


Common Place

by yails



Series: Agents? They're overrated. [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Complete, Domestic, F/F, Kissing, Lesbians, Oh No You Got Anxiety In My Squid, Other, There's cursing, a paragraph worth of arguing with a landlord, dj dad, finally we get octavio being the dad he needs to be, first fic, ijhkfngj, lakjsdfkjl, mr grizz exists, slowly they get introduced, the agents are given names, theyre gay.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-04-14 13:33:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 32,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14137059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yails/pseuds/yails
Summary: After finally ending her research with Cuttlefish, Agent 3 makes herself at home with a new friend, and gets to meet the rest of the Squidbeak Splatoon. That new friend is Agent 8, who has never known anything past the subways that she was found in, and now lives with the Idols that helped her and Agent 3.





	1. X

Agent 3 never imagined she would be this far away from home. At least, that she was going to be  _ living _ this far away. She was beyond the legal age for an inkling of her status to be able to live on their own, but the idea of it was.. Is always weird for her. When she was doing her missions for the SquidBeak, she still would return home after the few day sessions and relax. When she told her parents about going off with Cuttlefish, they were nervous about her going off with someone like him. They argued for a few hours, before the inkling decided that having them meet him themselves would be a good idea. 

 

Needless to say, after a few more arguments and a long, lied-infused explanation, she finally was able to move out. 

 

When the agent stepped out of the subway for the first time in  _ months _ she winced, moving an arm over her eyes. “Shit..” She hissed as the octoling she had been calling her comrade pushing her face against her back. “You okay?” She looked back to the other Agent, squinting. 

 

“D.. Don’t worry about me!” Agent 8 stuttered, covering her eyes with her hands. She always seemed to have a grin on her face, even now when her eyes were figuratively burning. “The sun’s really bright!” 

 

Agent 3 paused, then laughed, bringing a hand to move the other cephalopods hands, and rested her hand on her forehead. “Did you stare straight at the sun, you slug? Jeez..”

 

“You’re telling me I  _ wasn’t _ supposed to? We could underground!”

 

“Because that was a panel!” Agent 3 stuck her tongue out, before bringing the octoling over to the shade. Agent 8 squinted, blinked, then looked around. 

 

_ “Woah.. _ ”

 

The inkling joined suit, covering her mouth in awe at the size of the hub. It was a lot  _ longer _ than the Plaza, more flashy too. She watched the screen that hung above Ammo Knights, watching as the Toni Kensa ad showed white-inked inklings in their various fashion. “Wow.. I heard the Square was a lot better than the Plaza, but I never figured it was like this!” She cupped her jaw in her hands in awe.

 

“You’ve never been here before?” Agent 8 looked to her companion, confused. Surely the other cephalopod should have been there before, right?

 

“No! This is the first time I’ve been here! I’ve only heard about it from Callie and Marie!” She brought her glance over to the other. “I never imagined it would be so  _ urban _ .” Coming from her mouth, it honestly sounds rather stupid. It IS a hub afterall, why wouldn’t it be urban? 

 

The two’s conversation was cut short by a rather  _ high-pitched _ laugh and voice, Pearl and Marina walking up to the agents. “What are y’all arguing about? It’s great to see you guys up here finally! Kind of weird not seeing you two  _ literally _ glowing.” Pearl moved her gloved hand away from the hoodie she was wearing, and spun her finger around their faces. “Anyways, do you guys need a place to stay? Marina and I’s place is pretty big  naturally. ” 

 

Agent 3 waved her hand dismissively to the question, laughing. “Oh, I’m fine! I still have a lot of gold in the bank from the Plaza, I should have enough for an apartment for at least a year.”

 

“At  _ least? _ ” Pearl furrowed her brows, resting her finger finally on the taller inkling’s forehead. “Dude! That’s not a lot of money!” She paused when she heard Marina laughing at their little argument, Pearl sticking her tounge out. “You go find a place you wanna live at, call me up, and I can pay for it for like, forever! You keep your money for stuff you want. Besides, we have different rules here in the Square than the Plaza. Your old weapons won’t work anymore. Trust me, I had this WHOOOOLE speech with Marie and Callie when they came here after our first concert and they tried to turf with their old Hero Weapons. Got banned for a whole MONTH!”

 

“If a month your time is a few days our time, then that must be pretty short~.” Marina patted her shorter partner’s head. “She’s telling the truth though. I think that Sheldon’s willing to trade out old weapons for the newer ones. It might be a bit costly for certain ones though.” She gave a sweet smile to the two of them. “So I’d suggest just go find a home, get settled,  _ then _ worry about turf.”

 

“Ah!” Agent 3 nodded in understanding, shifting on her heels. “I’m guessing I should go do that before night! I’ll talk to you all later!” She gave a wide smile to the others, hugging them all before waving her goodbye. She would soon disappear into the crowd, leaving Agent 8 with the idols. 

 

“Do you want to do the same? There’s no pressure if you don’t.” Marina tilted her head and rested a hand on the other Octoling’s shoulder. 

 

“I.. Kind of don’t.” Agent 8 rubbed her arm, looking down. “Is it.. Okay if I stay with you guys?” 

 

“Absolutely!”    
  
“Yeah, I don’t see why not.” Pearl moved her hands behind her head, grinning. “The more the merrier~!” Agent 8 stared at the idols with wide eyes, before hugging them and laughing. These two were going to be  _ her home _ .


	2. Name

**Name**   
nām   
noun   
1\. a word or set of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is known, addressed, or referred to.

* * *

 

While the Octoling was on her journey up from the subways with the SquidBeak Splatoon, she never formally had a name. She was given the  _ title _ of Agent 8 from the leader of SquidBeak, due to her being an octoling and all, but she never had a  _ name _ .

 

This was a problem, mostly for legal reasons. 

 

The idols knew that due to Agent 8 being an adult, they would have to get everything situated for things like insurance, turf permits, her weapon ones, ect. But the issue of a name was the first thing they encountered. Due to how they found her, and the fact she had no legal information attached like a Birth or Creation log, with the only identifier being the neon yellow bands that branded her with numbers. And well, you couldn’t really bring up the only way of identifying someone to an Insurance Agency or the Turf Agency and go,  _ “Well she doesn’t exactly have a name so label her as 100008.” _ . They knew how stupid that sounded.

 

So after they brought the Octoling home, settled her on the couch for the night, and got ready for supper, Marina and Pearl sat her down at the dining room table with a laptop, paper, and a pencil. “You need a name.” Pearl pushed the materials over to the Octoling. 

 

“Wuh..?!” Agent 8 looked down at the pile of items she was presented with, taking the pencil up. “Like.. Like one of yours or-?”   
  


“Yeah! It can be whatever you want it to be!” Marina clasped her hands together, her tentacles waving behind her. “A name is something you have that says who you really are! It’s what people call you, and what makes you  _ you! _ We kind of had some ideas but.. I think it’s better for you to give yourself a name more than us give it to you!” She scratched her chin a little. “You can look names up on that device! It’s like the phone, but you can’t touch the screen and you type using the buttons.” She got up and moved to the right of the other octoling, bringing her hands over to the keyboard. “This one has Octoling keys on it so it might be a little easier for you.” 

 

“Oh! Urhm! Thank you!” She looked down to the keys, then up to the screen. She sat there, silent for a few seconds before looking back up to the other girl. “How do I use it?”

 

“OH!” Marina laughed, covering her face a bit before grabbing a seat over. Pearl slowly shifted her own over to watch the two of them do their techy stuff. “So, you want to put this in..” Marina typed in the inkling version of google into the search bar, in octarian of course, having the search engine come up in the Octoling language. It was rather  _ broken _ Octoling, but it would work for what they wanted to do. “So then here you would put in what you would want!” She pointed to the empty search bar. 

 

“Oh! That sounds easy!” Agent 8 went ahead and typed in, slowly, ‘Names’. She squinted at the results, until she found a site that she thought would be good enough, and clicked on it. 

 

“Good job!” Marina clapped and moved her chair back. “When you find something that you like, go ahead and write it down!” 

 

“Okay!” It was a while, with a lot of writing. Then erasing. Then writing. Then erasing. Then writing- Until the octoling grinned, pushing the laptop away before presenting the messy piece of paper with Octoling on it. She held it in front of herself, presenting it to the Idols. 

 

“Uh.. What does it say?” Pearl cocked a brow, before Marina grinned widely. “What? Am I missing something?”

 

“Christine! That’s a really pretty name!” Marina cooed and walked around the table, giving her a hug. “It fits!”

 

“Yeah! I like the ring of it! It’s a little formal though.. What about just Christie?” Pearl followed suit, squeezing under the shorter Octolings arm. 

 

“O-Oh! I don’t mind!” More like, she didn’t  _ understand _ why she would shorten it like that way, but it didn’t really matter. She had a name now. 

 

_ Christie _ .


	3. Tired

**Tired**   
ˈtī(ə)rd/Submit   
Adjective

  1. in need of sleep or rest; weary.



* * *

It didn’t take long for Agent 3 to find a place to live. It was relatively close to the Square, a few blocks away from the Grizzco building. She figured that she still needed the walk, afterall she knows how it feels to  _ not _ be active for a while. Lead to the largest mistake of her life- Playing on her game console for 4 hours straight while waiting for the mission call from Cuttlefish, leading to her falling straight in the mud in the way, an ache in her arms, and her promptly falling asleep in Sheldon’s car on the way back to her neighborhood.

 

Getting the landlord to let her move in almost immediately was a pain in the ass. First, he wouldn’t accept her old turf card.  _ We don’t accept Plaza cards. _ Took her thirty minutes and a long, annoying line to get her new card with her information. Rather embarrassing too, being reset to level one all over again. Then he questioned her wealth from the level.  _ Sir, I had this from the Plaza and they let me transfer this over _ .  **_Mmmmhm. Sure. Let’s ask them about this_ ** . Of course, it was in her favor. Any pets? No. Any roommates? No. Any heavy weapons?  _ No. _ Any body problems? _ No sir. _ Any issues in your family?  _ No sir. _

 

It seemed like it took forever. She knew that older inklings were sticklers for making sure that everything's in order but  _ dear gods _ it took too long. When she finally did manage to get the key to the apartment, she made her way up the stairs, knocked on the door on impulse, unlocked the door, and paused when she felt another person brush against her back. She turned back to her neighbor, waving with a smile. “Hello-” Was cut short, with the door quickly closing after she saw a hint of  _ gray tentacles and a dark green outfit _ . Agent 3 couldn’t help but feel a hit of nostalgia. 

 

She looked back to her door and greeted her new home. She closed it behind herself and pulled her boots and sweater off, hanging the sweater on the washing machine that sat next to the door. Agent 3 made her way inside and laid down on the bare floor. The possibilities of this place.. She grinned, balling her fists and got up, running around the soon-to-be living room.  _ “Hell yeah!”  _  She jumped and rolled, hitting her back against the wall next to the window out to the faux courtyard the complexes made. “My own home!” 

 

The idea made her giddy. Even though she never really  _ wanted _ to leave home, she always pictured one she would call her dream home. Something small, with another inkling to call her partner, a big bed.. It all were rather childish hopes, of course, but needless to say that at least one of those things were real then and that made her excited. 

 

Then the sudden hit of reality slapped her faster than she could even think about it. She needed furniture. 

 

Being the type of apartment she rented, it did not come with furniture ahead of time. The only thing it had was a washer and dryer, bathroom utilities, and a half kitchen. She didn’t even  _ think _ about furniture! Not to mention things to cook with, toiletries, body care products, electronics.. Her excitement faded into annoyment as she internally listed off all of the items she needed now. 

 

Well, the  _ good _ thing is that she has a phone. She got up from her little roll and went over to her sweater, pulling it out. She sat in front of the door for around an hour, ordering different items off of  _ Succazon _ , then looked at the gold she had stockpiled afterwords. She shivered a little at how around a million already had been used. “Jeez…” 


	4. Familiar

**Familiar**   
f əˈmilyər   
Adjective

  1. well known from long or close association. 



* * *

 

Whoever lived next door was _weird_. Agent 3 knows that she shouldn’t be so curious about someone else’s living conditions, but there was an itch that she couldn’t buzz away. After seeing the cephalopod enter their home the first night Agent 3 came one, she couldn’t stop thinking about them. Multiple times over the course of the first few days she would knock on their door, waiting patiently. After all, she wanted to be friendly. But every knock came back without a response.

 

She knew something was up though. Agent 3 could hear voices she swore she knew later in the night, usually chatting about someone who’s name was _Nelson_ , about the Square’s idols, and about things like fries, or pizza, or what to wear at a party. She never heard another name come from their mouths though. Nothing about what seemed to be themselves, not about any other inkling or resident, just small talk. It killed her. She _needed_ to know what was going on.

 

Agent 3 waited on the first weekend night for voices outside her door. At every sound, wind or not, she would grab her door handle, listening for a moment, before letting it go. She kept this up for at least an hour before a voice did come from behind the door. She quickly opened it, pointing at the one who was causing it, and stammering. “Why do I know you?!”

 

“Have you really forgotten us already?” Christie frowned, hands behind her back. Pearl stood next to her, a sort of shocked expression over her face and a defeated fist lowering to her side.

 

“Oh! OH! Sorry!” Agent 3 squeaked, stepping back and wiping an eye. “No! I haven’t! Don’t worry!” She waved her hands, the Octoling laughing.

 

“I’m kidding! We just came to see if you wanted to come out to recon some of the stages with us? I just got my turfing license so I can turf with you guys now!” She had a large grin on her face.

 

“Oh! Yeah sure! ‘Lemme go grab my gear and my pass- And my Jr-” She dove away to her room, changing into her turf gear and grabbing her Jr. She rushed back out, closing the door behind herself. “Sorry that I haven’t said anything… I’ve been busy trying to handle getting all of my furniture and stuff..” She rubbed the back of her neck, Marina patting her back.

 

“Don’t worry. It’s good to see you picked your gear up though! Were you planning on heading out before?”

 

“Oh, well.. I kind of was just waiting. I didn’t want to get into turf immediately. I honestly just want to get to ten so I can get my ranked card.” She snapped her weapon onto the belt under her shirt, digging through her pockets and making sure her kit pack was still in them. They left the apartment complex and made their way down to the Lobby Station. Once inside, Agent 3 looked around to the conglomerate of inklings and Octolings waiting on benches for their names to be selected for their games. The crowd was mostly of older cephalopods, considering it was nearing the end of curfew for the younger ones. Marina lead the pack, flashing her turf permit to one of the security squids. She mentioned about reconing some of the stages that were not in rotation, and the guards nodded, handing the pass back.

 

“Leave anything that isn’t your weapon and cellular device here. You two know the rules of recon, correct? You may turf or play the objective, but it will not count for anything. If you pick a fight and we catch it, you _will_ be banned. Have a nice night, ladies!” One of the squids grinned to the group as they headed towards the subway to The Reef.

 

“The train’s taking longer than it should..” Marina crossed her arms, looking down to Pearl. “Do you think there’s a team in there already?”  
  
“Yeah, there might be, marmar.” The shorter one yawned. “That one tournament’s coming up soon. Haven’t heard of the previous year’s champion coming back though.”

 

“That’s a shame.. He was really adorable. I guess the old King’s going to take that spot again.” She perked up when the train came into the small station. “Oh! Let’s go!” She grinned, leading the way onto the train. Agent 3 took a seat close to the exit, Christie sitting next to her.

 

“I wonder if there’s actually people there! Do you think they’re going to be cool?” Agent 3 had a blank expression on her face as she stared out to the lights outside of the train. Christie paused, gripping the seat. “Hey. You never really told me your name.” The octoling said with a stern tone.

 

“Oh?” Agent 3 blinked out of her moment, looking over at her. “It’s… Mitsuo.” She sat up a little, resting her hands in her lap.

 

“Mitsuo? That’s a nice name! It fits you!” Christie smilled. “What’s on your mind?”

 

“Mhnnm.. There’s these neighbors who I just.. Can’t seem to catch. I swear I know them.” Mitsuo furrowed her brows. “They don’t respond to my knocks, they always seem to be gone, they’re always talking about weird stuff. It pisses me off!” She groaned, gripping the sides of her head and sulking in her seat. “I just want them to say something. Anything.”

 

“Maybe they just.. Don’t want to talk to you?” The octoling cocked her head and shifted her hips so she could focus more on the inkling. “Or they’re busy, or asleep?”

 

“I guess you’re right…” Mitsuo covered her eyes before a voice rang around the train, announcing their stop. She perked up and stood, holding the octolings hand so she could stand. The group stepped outside, flashing their cards before entering the spawn pad. They sunk into the ink, appearing inside the arena.

 

“Our ink is different..” Christie grabbed one of her tentacles and looked at it, along with her fingertips. “We’re yellow!”

 

“Yeah! Your ink changes depending on the team and time you join a lobby! The spawn pads are just set to do that to distinguish between the players.” Marina chimed, clipping her brella to her back. “This is The Reef. It’s the first map that was set forth for the Square’s Battle Hub!” She stood in front of the group, outstretching her arms. “There’s multiple places to get to mid from, being straight ahead then down where the car is, into a hallway, to the left over the water near their hallway, or diagonally from spawn to get to the bridge as fast as you want! Over there-” She hiccuped when a voice came from under the bridge, a few Octolings climbing their way over to their Spawner.

 

 _“‘Ey! Loudy!_ ” The voice hissed as it grew nearer. In front of the spawner stood a group of 4 Octolings. The tallest had sepia-shaded skin and tentacles that were shaped similarly to Christie’s, and following her were 3 shorter, younger Octolings.  One had blue-banded tentacles put up in a bun and was a more of an olive tone, another had a more _purple_ tone to her skin but otherwise looked similar to the tallest, and the third one had pale skin and her tentacles in a more common octoling shape, one long bang and three tentacles in the back. “We’re havin’ a session here, what are you all doing here?”

 

“Oh- Urm-” Marina turned around, laughing. “I was showing these two some of the maps! They just got their turf permits and-”

 

“And?” The blue-ringed one chirped, grabbing onto the taller’s arm.

 

“They’ve never seen them before. I figured it would be better for them to see the maps before letting them blindly rush in, especially since they’re too old to be with the kids.” Marina hummed.

 

“Yeah, so bug off and let Marina speak! Jeez!” Pearl chimed up, the eldest octoling flinching.

 

“Marina? I barely recognized you. Buster, you don’t have to be so defensive.” The eldest smiled, waving her hand. “I haven’t seen you in months! I mean, other than the news. Never imagined I would see you again like this.”

 

 _“Senior?”_ Marina gasped, before stepping off the plate and giving the taller octoling a hug. “I barely recognized you either!” She looked back to the group. “This is one of the octoling commanders that used to fight underground who worked with my sector!” Agent 3 had a curious gaze, while Christie’s eyes seemed to gaze over. “Christie?”

“Christie!” Mitsuo shook the octoling, a concerned expression coming over her face. Christie shook her head and rushed up to the eldest, grabbing her hands.

 

 _“It’s like looking in a mirror!”_ She chirped, her tentacles waving diligently behind herself. “You look so.. Tired. How old are you? Why do you look familiar?” You could tell there was a hint of _hurt_ in the younger octolings voice as she spoke.

 

“Woah, woa.” Senior raised her hands. “I have no clue what you’re rambling about! I’m- I’m around eighty-”

 

“She does look like you.” The purple-tinted octoling looked between the two of them. “Do you think that she’s..”

 

“Junior, none of them survived.” Senior grew more uncomfortable as the conversation went on. The youngest of the octoling group stayed silent, twirling her blaster around a finger. Pearl looked between all of them.

 

“Are you talking about the underground stuff? Because we found her underground.” The short inkling pushed her way into the conversation. Senior stared at Christie, tears welling in her eyes. She hugged the girl, lifting her up. Christie yelped, laughing nervously as she was shook. Pearl looked up to Marina, raising a brow and whispering to her. “Is this normal?”

 

“It’s her! It’s really her!” Junior gained a grin, reaching up to join the hug.

 

“Well.. Yeah. Finding lost kin is a thing worth celebrating. She’s probably made from one of Senior’s tentacles..” She rubbed the short inkling’s back as the crowd of octolings laughed.

 

 They exchanged IDs, explained where they were hiding out, and parted after Marina brought them through The Reef and a few other stages. But there still was a twinge of pain that Mitsuo felt in her lower stomach. An almost jealous feeling. She pushed it away for the trip, joining in the fun and games the octolings had.


	5. Reflection

**Re·flec·tion**   
rəˈflekSH(ə)n   
Noun  
~~An image seen in a mirror or shiny surface.  
~~ _A thing bringing discredit to someone or something._

* * *

 

Agent 3 along with the Idols and Christie made a habit out of going out near the evening to either practice their skills, or to simply spend time around the inactive stages. They would very rarely run into the band of Octolings while out, and when they would, they’d take their time to go over strategies for the different maps. It was something that both groups took joy in. Though, Marina and Pearl slowly had to start going less and less.

 

They always made sure to make it on the weekends, considering the fact that they would be given the time off in hopeful preparation for the Splatfests coming up for the month. However, the weekend did not bring the usual phone call for Mitsuo to get ready to head out. Her octoling friend _did_ call, but her tone was a little more excited than normal. She sat on her washing machine, kicking her legs while Christie and her did their usual smalltalk. “You sound rather excited.” Mitsuo hummed putting the phone on speaker while she buttoned her shorts.

 

“Oh! Right!” Christie purred from the other side of the phone. “I’m throwing a party for some of our friends since Pearl and Marina are gone for the weekend! I’m inviting the other agents Minus one, they said they’re not feeling good, it’s nothing big but I don’t think we all have been able to properly meet each other!”

 

Mitsuo cocked her head, picking the phone up. “Other agents? Like.. One and Two?”

 

“Yep! And Four!”

 

She was surprised, a wave of anticipation bubbling through her. It was a _while_ since she last got to talk to Callie and Marie, not to mention that she was going to be able to meet Agent Four! She finished getting ready and made her way off to the idols’ home. She waited patiently while Christie opened the door. The house was _big._ The octoling brought her through the house, showing everything off. “They left a lot of fruit here too, so we have something to eat!” Christie grinned and made her way over to the living room with Mitsuo. They sat on a couch, a purple-inked inkling making her way out of the bathroom. “Hello, Nelly!”

 

“Nelly..?” Mitsuo raised a brow, before taking a look at the other girl. She gasped after a few moments, covering her mouth. “Agent 4! Oh jeez-” She sat up, brushing one of her tentacles off before standing up and walking over to the cat-like inkling. "I’m erm- I’m Mitsuo, or Agent 3!” She offered a hand to her.

 

Nelly blinked at her hand, before patting it with her own, putting her hands into the pockets of her overalls. “Don’t worry about professional greetings, we’re at a party anyways! I’ve heard so much about you from Marie. You definitely smell a lot better than she always lamented on.”

 

 _“Excuse me?!”_ Mitsuo looked down at herself, then at Nelly. “What else has she said?!” She had an agitated tone to her voice, before perking up to a knock on the door and the octoling making her way to get whoever was at the door.

 

“That must be her. Mostly stuff about how young you were, your hygiene, _Avery_ , y’know. Stuff she'd know about.” Nelly waved her hand and made her way over to the couch. “‘Aye, Marie!” She waved out towards the entrance.

 

Mitsuo gasped, rushing over one of the couches to greet the Plaza’s idols, hugging them. “Woah there, kiddo.” Marie looked down at her as Mitsuo stepped back. “Long time, no see, ‘eh?”

 

“Yeah! It’s been, what, almost three years? How have you guys been? Callie?” Callie looked over to her, and petted the younger squid.

 

“We’ve been doing good! I guess you’ve met Nelly?” She lead the group back to the living room, Marie taking a seat next to Nelly. Mitsuo nodded, grabbing a pillow and cuddling it. “Where are you living now? Still in the Plaza?”

 

“Oh! After Cuttlefish and I came back from the trip where we found Christie and her brother, I moved into some apartments a little away.” She fidgeted with one of the tassels on the pillow.

 

“That’s nice!” Callie grinned, sitting on her hands. “Hope you didn’t give the old man too much trouble.”

 

“I guess you can say that I didn’t!” She stuck her tongue out at the idol, before looking to Marie. “So.. _What have you said about me_?” The question took the other idol offkey, her eyes widening a bit. Mitsuo leaned towards her and raised her ears.

“Oh- Um-” She stumbled over her words, pulling at the collar of her hoodie. “Just about how arrogant you used to be, your er- hygiene..”

 

“Nelly told me all of that.” Mitsuo leaned back, crossing her arms and giving her fake sass. “I can’t believe you would talk behind my back like that!” She stuck her tongue out, Marie rolling her eyes.

 

“I haven’t been saying _too_ much bad about you anyways. I imagine you’ve become less rash than you used to be.” Marie snickered, her cousin laughing as well. “I mean, a year with an octoling and Cuttlefish will really push anyone’s patience.

 

Christie pouted, grabbing Mitsuo's arm. “She has been nice! If anything, she’s the one who pulls me out of danger!”

 

“Oh _reel_ y?” Marie leaned back, crossing a leg over her other. “I can hardly believe that.”

 

“Yuh- huh!” Mitsuo stared at the other agent’s arms around her own, and between her and Marie. “I think that those sanitized goons would’a killed me if I didn’t have Marina, Pearl, _AND_ Mitsuo!”

 

“Well, it’s good to hear that she’s really stepping up to the plate now, and not playing as many games. “ Marie hummed, looking to Callie, who was idly kicking her feet and tapping away at her phone. The pink-inked girl looked up from it and raised a brow.

 

“What’s up?” Callie put the phone next to herself. “Oh! Yeah, I was wondering something, Mitsie!” The younger inkling grew a yellow-red flush at the nickname. “Where do ‘ya live, like, specifically?”

 

“Oh- A few blocks away from the Grizzco building in the Apartments the Toni’s kids run.”

 

“Woah! Same!” Callie tucked her legs under herself. “I knew someone’s voice was familiar a while back, but we were so tired we didn’t bother looking.”

 

“ _Really_ ?!” Mitsuo grinned. “I had an _inkling_ that y’all were someone that I knew, but I couldn’t really put a finger on it.”

 

“M..Mhmm.” Marie nodded. “Though, next time please let us know if you’re ordering a lot of items. We couldn’t make it out of the apartment a while ago because of that.”


	6. Family

_**fam·i·ly**_  
ˈfam(ə)lē  
noun  
1.  
a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household.

* * *

 

The weekend couldn't have ended any faster. The Squid Sisters had to leave after the first night of the weekend, to who-knows-where, leaving the rest of the Agents to return home soon after. Christie really had been hoping the other two would have stayed the night, but as both put it,  _they were tired._ This left Christie utterly  _bored_ , not wanting to bother Mitsuo or Nelly about doing things like turf or just hanging out. It.. Really was kind-of awkward for her without the Idols to talk to them alone. Whether it be from the slight twinge in her chest every time she spoke with Mitsuo, or the faint feeling of nostalgia that came from Nelly, both of them definitely intimidated her. She  _could_ ring up the other agents, but... Something told her- Mostly Nelly literally- that the two of them needed some time alone. 

Christie spent most of her time on the internet, surfing and finding random sites. Some amused her, some left her confused, and others caused her to close the computer until some hours passed due to being screamers, or from 'Viruses' that Marina warned her about. She didn't understand that those weren't something she could just.. Seal away. Thank god that the green octoling cared about her enough to excuse the amount of viruses she would be able to summon up on any time spent alone on the laptop.  The one thing she was thankful for finding, however, were the chat clients the Idols and the Agents used, which let her easily contact all of them, since the phone she had didn't do much out of Splatnet things. 

 

Once the weekend was over, Christie found herself sitting close to the door, holding the device on her lap while she waited for Pearl and Marina to return home. She didn't want to give them a surprise welcome-back, but she did want to see them once they got home. When she heard the door start to open, she put the laptop down, balling her fists in anticipation for the idols returning, and once they made their way inside, she jumped over to them, giving them a strong hug. "Oh!" Marina laughed, looking down at Christie, setting her bag down. "I didn't expect you to be home!"

 

"Why?" The octoling picked the bag up for her, stepping back a bit so the two could enter the home. She set it on the dining room table as Marina spoke again.

 

"Oh. Well. I know that we've had that habit of heading out around now and..."

 

"And?"

 

"I just guessed you continued that?" Marina scratched under her chin a little, looking down at Pearl. "Not that it's bad you're home! It just took us by surprise!"

 

"Oh! Okay!" The younger girl grinned, climbing into a chair and resting her hands in her lap. "How was the concert? Did'ja have fun?"

 

"Tiring." Pearl took a seat herself, reaching in the bag and grabbing out a bottle, sipping from it. "It was far away. They weren't even hyped up!"

 

"Yeah... Our last one, the people there were really excited... But.. I don't know." Marina sat next to Pearl, bringing a hand through her mane of tentacles. "It was  _fun_ , don't get me wrong! I just wish they would have been as excited as we were."

 

"They really cared about  _Marmar_ though!" Pearl grinned, setting the bottle down on the table. "There was  _so much green_! You should have seen her face." Pearl elbowed Marina's arm a little. "Anyways, we were going to turn in early. Don't be afraid to go ahead and see if Mitsuo's out right now though. Maybe you guys can hook up with that band of octolings? Or maybe just do some turf?"

 

"Oh! Sure!" Christie got up, making her way out to her room, leaving the two idols to sigh in relief. Christie came out in the gear she wore for battles and her phone, hugging the two. "Bye! Have fun!" She rushed out of the home and towards Deca Tower. Taking her phone out, she searched through the list of those who she was friends with, gasping when she noticed a  _certain someone_ on the list, along with their friend. She quickly put herself into the queue to get in with them, pushing her way to the locker she called her own inside the tower and picking her weapon out with her ink-tank. She waited near the entrance to the subway, perking up when the soft  _ding_ notifying an ended match rang through the section waiting to be put into matches. When the rail cart came buzzing through she jumped in, setting the splattershot she had been using on her lap as it made it's way down to a rather.. unfamiliar path to her. She sat up when the cart took longer than she was expecting, looking out the window to the dim tunnel- then matched with a mixture of star lit sky and artificial light. The cart rang out the name of the stage-  **Piranha Pit** \- before pulling into the lobby. The octoling looked around for the two she had connected through, grinning when she caught wind of the messy-haired inkling and another octoling. She dove towards the other octoling, hugging him tightly. "Ferox!" 

 

The male octoling yelped, stumbling forward before reaching back and picking his sister up. He twirled around, cheeks half-liding his eyes with a large grin on it. "There you are, you little shit!" The inkling who was with him slapped the back of his neck, making him drop the other octoling with a hiss. "Hey, you used tissue, let me have a moment with her, 'aight? It's been a while."

 

"And I know that if you wanted to be both rude and sentimental, you could do that on your own time. Sorry about that, Christie." The enby waved their hand, before adjusting the face-mask they wore. The rest of their outfit composed of a scarf around their collar, a lime skii-coat, and their pair of hero-boots. As for the octoling that was with them, it was a baggy hoodie- Similiar to Christie's- Punk Blacks, and a pair of headphones. They pulled Ferox back, patting his back and reaching a hand out for the girl. "Hm?"

 

"Oh, don't worry! I'm okay with it!" She grinned widely, pulling Ferox's head down and ruffling part of his shaven head. "Yeah, looks like you got a really.. Uh.. A really nice and caring person to be your friend!"

 

The two octolings continued to roughhouse and throw 'insults' at each other- Ferox's being more  _literal_ insults as opposed to Christie's attempted ones until the match finally started, dividing the two and leaving the enby on Christie's team. Christie stepped onto the platform that led the teams to their spawns, adjusting her inktank and tapping the enby's arm. "Hey, Whitney?"

 

"Yeah?" The enby looked down to her, readying their E-Liter. 

 

"How has Ferox been doing? Has he been giving you a lot of trouble?" Christie gave them a weak smile, the enby simply laughing in return before they were sent off to the stage. Once they came up from the ink and the timer started, she reached out for them, hoping to continue to talk, but they had already pushed off, heading to find a good place to perch. Christie thought about rushing after them, but decided against it, taking off in her own direction to try to help take some ground down. She got down to one of the 'pits' on her team's side, being sidetracked by the stove-like grill that had Sea Snail shells on it. She picked one up, a familiar voice creeping up behind her. "Huh-?"

 

"You might wanna put that down.." The octoling that came behind her was almost a foot taller than her, on the other team, and having a splatling. Christie's first instinct was to pull two burst bombs from her inktank, only being stopped by the elder's panicked yelling. "Hey! Hey! It's me!" The soft-spoken octoling set the splatling down, reaching over. "I- I'm sorry for not really talking to you at first. I just.. My words get caught in my throat when I'm around Senior- She's not bad or anything- I just-"

 

"Slow down, slow down." Christie set the bombs down, reaching over to pat the other's shoulder. "You don't have to explain anything to me. How are you? I didn't really expect to see you here!" She grinned. "Hey.. You never really told me your name."

 

"Oh. Um-" The elder one looked around, awkwardly scratching at her chin. "It's.. Cirris." 

 

"Hello, Cirris!" Christie grinned before grabbing her Splattershot up, waving. "Well, I have a battle to fight. I'll see you later!" She inked the conveyor and swam up it, bringing herself to the middle of the stage. She grabbed a bomb, throwing it up to where one of the other team's chargers were perching, dipping in to get some more ink to throw two more. She continued to do her harassing with the other's charger, being stopped by Whitney getting a shot on them, Christie looking up at them and sticking her tongue out. She pushed on, freezing when the bell for the end of the match rung. "What?!" She pouted, crossing her arms and looking up to the sky. 

 

"The winner is..." A voice rang after a few minutes. "The Green Team! Go ahead back to your respawn pads!" 

 

"Good game!" Christie waved to the other cephalopods when she entered the lobby once again, pausing at the sight of Cirrs and Ferox talking. Whitney rested an arm on her shoulder, chuckling. "What?"

  
  
"It's so weird... He treats y'all like you're... Family."

  
  
"We.. Kind of are." Christie looked up at the inkling, blinking. "Cirris's one of our uhm." She paused. What relationship  _does_ she and Ferox have with Senior? Calling her their mother wouldn't be entirely accurate.. Considering the fact that they  _are_ in some respect... Her? "Cirris's one of the friends to the person who we came from." Yeah. That'll work.

 

"Oh?"

 

"Yeah.." Cirris patted the boy's shoulder, and handed him her phone, him taking it and tapping at it. "I guess I'd call them family."

 

"What would make me then?" Whitney teased, Christie looking confused before they shook their head, stepping back. "Well, I have to make sure this one isn't totally an asshole in the morning. I'll talk to you later!" They smiled and walked over to the two octolings. Ferox looked up at him and bared his teeth for a moment before laughing, wrapping an arm around their waist. The girl looked down at her splattershot. 

 

_What **would** they be? _

 

She made her way out of the lobby and to the lockers to put her gear and inktank away. 

 

_What were **they?** What could she consider Pearl and Mitsuo? They're not kin. Wasn't that was family was?_

 

Something felt wrong in her chest. She took another long glance at the weapon in her hands, then put it away, hesitating to before closing the locker. 

 

_Were they family?_

* * *

 

 ~~~~**fam·i·ly**  
ˈfam(ə)lē  
noun  
~~1.~~  
~~a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household.~~  
_1._  
????????????????????????

 


	7. Disquiet

**dis·qui·et**  
disˈkwīət  
noun 

1\. a feeling of anxiety or worry.

* * *

 

The place was all over the news. Sirens blasted past the neighborhoods close to the building, a scandal involving a particular trade that was going through without the owner's knowledge. This made Mitsuo concerned, reluctant to leave her apartment for the few days that whatever  _it_ was, was going on.

 

Yet a part of her wanted to know more. Possibly out of the lack of  _excitement_ she was getting from living by herself in the apartment, and turf wars, and ranked; or even just from the idea of something to taboo. It was something that many people talked about during the matches, that the younger ones would always sport the gear that they received from the job, or even showed on television sometimes.  **Grizzco** was something that took a lot of young folk by storm after hearing the news involving the Zapfish and such. Word spread that those who were higher in ranks got to do more challenging missions. Got to fight  _evil_ , and were considered near-to superheros in their own respect. These rumors weren't what drove Mitsuo to applying. 

 

What brought her was the underground system of the cephalopods that took care of the ecosystem of the work. Now, she wasn't someone who really was into the whole... Illegal part of the world she lived in, but she was intrigued by the upper levels of it, the  _clean_ part of it. She knew better than to take something more than what Grizzco was offering. She wasn't someone who would be, perhaps, an assassin, or even worse. But she did know that the job would give her that pump of adrenaline that her previous agent work gave her. 

 

So when the sirens calmed, the buzz about  _whatever_ happened there had cleared, and the hype that the job was getting from it had diminished, the inkling made her way directly into the office that  _Mr. Grizz_ had, put down her Agent vest and her ID, and looked him straight in the eyes, telling him that she wanted to work with him. 

 

At first he laughed.

 

Then he grew quiet when the young adult kept her eyes glued to his.

 

He coughed, pulling the collar of his shirt and took the ID up. "So.." His voice was brittle. He wasn't old, per se, but a combination of years worth of screaming, cigars, and injuries took a toll on his body. " **Why** do you want to work with us, young one?" Mitsuo lost the eye contact that she was putting an effort out to keep, and adjusted the button-up she was wearing. 

 

"Because I want the trill of fighting for a cause that's helpful." Mitsuo pulled the vest back over, clicking it in place. "Ranked is getting sour. Too many Squids trying too hard or not at all. I want the trill of being an Agent again, Grizz."

 

" _ **Mr**_. Grizz, young'n." He sat up, sliding the ID back to the girl. "And I don't want some lass risking her life because she can't get enough out of fighting. Is that the real reason you want to work with us?"

 

"Yes, sir." 

 

"Then tell that ol' bloke Cuttlefish to give you something else to do that isn't this. I don't want to be responsible for any of you kids getting hurt." Grizz sat back, resting his hands on his lap. 

 

"He  _didn't_ send me here!" Mitsuo growled, putting her hands on the table. "And you give work to kids who are younger than I am! What's wrong with making me work?! Do you think that I'm like- More valuable than some child?!"

 

"Cool your tone young lady." He narrowed his eyes, a tone of bitterness rivaling hers. "And yes. I consider you and your other Agent friends more valuable because you all actually are good at living without needing some other person watching over you constantly. It's easier to keep a track on some kid while they do busywork than it is to watch over you rascals because both you and I know that you all  ** _LOVE_** to get in trouble and overexert yourself,  _ **3**_." He used the other's number as less of a name and more of a catalyst to make her be quiet, since he could see her lips upturn and her face flush as he spoke. "If you want to work here, then please return later with someone else who works here so I know you're serious, Mitsuo."

 

"And if I just come here and go work?"

 

"I ain't payin' you, and I'm putting that under one of my interns." Okay. Mitsuo grumbled under her breath, defeated. She didn't really have much to say to retort.  _Dammit!_ "Now, do you want me to go get you some lunch? It's getting close to the afternoon, and I need some myself. Make your trip here more worth while." 

 

"Only if you tell me what happened a few days ago." Mitsuo shoved the ID into a pocket, crossing her arms. The older man nodded and took his wallet out of his desk, leading the girl out of his office and out of the building. 

 

"Some kids under me decided that selling the Sea Snails they've been getting from turf would be a great idea, and it turned into a huge mistake of a trade. Wouldn't be so bad if they weren't actually eating them." Grizz made the way to a hole-in-the-wall more on the outskirts of the town, Mitsuo following close behind. "There were some other things they were trading, but the Sea Snails were the main thing that they all were charged with. The buisness itself didn't get in trouble, since I nor any of the higher-ups had any involvement, but the Press doesn't give a shit about that." He opened the door for her, then took a seat near the window, awkwardly adjusting himself in a chair. "Fuckin'.. Hold on. Miss?" He got up, walking to the counter. "Could you please see about us getting a booth table? It's rather hard.. Considering er.." 

 

"Oh! Sorry Mr. Grizz!" The lady behind the counter nodded, making her way over to one of the booth tables and asking the pair of inklings who were sitting there to just move a few seats down so Grizz and Mitsuo could sit. Being a  _rather tall_ Cephalopod, at around 9', the man had issues sitting down in most places in a normal chair. Mitsuo laughed at this, taking the seat part of the table, pulling her tentacles back. She ordered herself a tea, looking up to the taller cephalopod. 

 

"You didn't want to get in on those scandals, did you?" Grizz spoke after a few moments, looking down to the inkling with ice blue eyes. "Because if you did, then I would just suggest for you to go find something else."

 

"Oh, no!" Mitsuo grinned nervously, waving her hands. "I... Just wanted.. Like.." She rolled said hands, looking away from Grizz. "A.. Family? Is that the best way to put it? I mean- I know I have one at h-home but-"

 

"A family?" His eyes softened, slouching over and patting the inkling's head. "This is your first time being away from home that isn't for Agent reasons, isn't it?" Mitsuo looked embarrased, nodding. "You could have just said that from the start.. I wouldn't have gotten all mad at you. I mean. I'm not going to throw you at the wolves or anything, I don't want you to be hurt so soon-"

 

"As opposed to later?"

 

"I don't want you to be hurt at all, but fine, you can be a smartass about it." Mitsuo laughed at his comment before he spoke again. "But I'm being serious, 'kiddo. If you just wanted it for the social aspect, then you should have told me."

 

"Thank you."

 

"What for, lass?"

 

"I.. I don't know how to put it?" Mitsuo held herself, looking down at the tea that was given to her. "It's lonely being alone most of the time. Trust me, I like having a home alone, but all of the time is.. Not fun."

 

"Don't worry about it." He leaned back. "I know that that one octoling that you hang around was interested too."

 

"Christie?! What?"

 

"Yep. I'll put you two together for work, if that's fine with you. Might be easier to adjust to everything if you have a  _friend._ " The younger cephalopod opened her mouth, about to make a remark, but fell back when the elder spoke again. "She came in a few days ago, she said she was curious because a few younger octolings had gear from us and she wanted to be included." The server came back, handing Grizz a mug, full of coffee. He gave her a sweet smile, taking a sip from the dark brew. "I never imagined I would have some  _actually_ talented children interested...."

 

"Talented? You're flattering.." Mitsuo laughed, sipping at her tea, her anxiety fading. "Have none of the other agents shown interest in working with you?"

 

"No." The little amount of cream that was in the mug with the coffee swirled around, like a cloud in a dark sky. "Cuttlefish doesn't ever tell his disciples about my company... We used to be friends, you know."

 

"Really?"

 

"Yeah." He set the mug down, resting his chin on the knuckles of his fist. "That damned octarian, him, and I were all... Somewhat friends. More me with the other two than them themselves."

 

"You're kidding me. Octavio, even being close to Cuttlefish?"

 

"Nope. Why do you think that there's so many of  **us** working in Grizzco? It's always been a way to let anyone who left the underground a way to migrate into surface life.." He took another drink. "That's why there's so many rumors about it... Yes, there's problems but.. It's mostly just  **y'all** causing issues... I can't help to care about everyone though." He chuckled. "I can't not help it. You all are like my children... It always hurts me hearing any kind of major damage or drama." The giant seemed almost.. Sad. Mitsuo frowned, climbing over and wiping his eyes. 

 

"Hey. Don't cry, you don't have to!"

 

"It's okay.." He chuckled, gently pushing her back into her seat. "I just get emotional over that stuff... But I do have to agree, some of the shit you all do is ridiculous." Grizz tried to turn the subject away, and to a more humorous one. "Hold on, here. Let me pay for your tea. Unless you want something else."

 

"Oh! I'm fine!" She perked up, looking to the tea then the elder. "I can-"

 

"Are you sure? It's nothing."

 

"I meeaaaan.." Mitsuo chuckled, rubbing behind her ear.

 

"I knew you wouldn't deny it. Give me a moment." Grizz shimmed out of the booth, making his way over to the counter. Mitsuo's eyes followed him, her hands fidgeting with the cup. 


	8. Dragoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tfw oh no a draft was left in here for a month bc i couldn't figure out how to end this right

**dra·goon**  
drəˈɡo͞on ~~~~  
verb  
1\. coerce (someone) into doing something.

* * *

 

 ~~~~Considering that Christie didn't get any wind of the inkling's new job, Mitsuo decided to keep it a secret until Grizz let her know the first day that the two of them would work together. It was actually a long ways from when both of the cephalopods had signed up, since both of them would have to do basic training for egg collecting, then test runs with younger cephalopods until they were put onto the level the two of them were _supposed_ to be at. In the mean time, the two of them went back to the schedule of heading out to turf later on in the day, along with either set of idols. 

 

One of the nights went on rather late for the group, this time being accompanied by Callie and Marie. The two of them preferred to go out when the refurbished stages were available. Mitsuo spent a good ten minutes knocking on the door of the idol's apartment and calling out for them until Marie opened the door, quite literally  _punching_ her arm before dragging her inside and asking why she needed them so badly. "Weeeeeellllll." Mitsuo laughed, rolling her eyes. "Triggerfish is back!" 

 

"What?" Marie stared at the younger inkling, in disbelief. "Really? They  _seriously_ redid that old place?" 

 

"Yep!" Mitsuo put her hands together. "I knew that you two liked it, so, I thought, why don't we go there?"

 

"If i can get Callie out of bed, sure!" Marie laughed, rubbing an eye. "Just stay here." She turned heel and made her way into one of the rooms, knocking on the door before disappearing in. Mitsuo hummed, looking around the apartment. She never really spent a lot of time inside, usually just hanging in the mud room more than anything. After a few minutes, she walked in a bit more, looking around. It was... Normal. Which was weird to the agent. The two of them seemed all  _secretive_ and  _quirky_ , just seeing that their house was.. Normal felt weird. Nonetheless she rested against the frame of the door that lead into the living room and waited for Marie to come back, with a yawning Callie. "Somehow managed to do it."

 

"If I knew that we were heading out, I would'a stayed up..." Callie yawned, lifting the flannel she was wearing up and scratching at her side. "Let's gooooo...." Callie raised her hand, slipping into her shoes, and walking out of the apartment. Marie shrugged and followed out with Mitsuo out to Deca Tower. "Did they change anything...?"

 

"Not that i know of." Mitsuo hummed. "Probably just redid some stuff and made it friendly for the new Ranked mode, and specials." 

 

"Good." Marie grumbled under her breath. "I'm still mad about Blackbelly..."

 

"You're mad about Blackbelly?!" Callie snapped at the older cousin. "I'm mad about Blackbelly! First Krakens gone, now they made it less easy to spawn camp?!"

 

"Callie..." Marie laughed, rolling her eyes. "The reason I'm mad is because they made it bigger... Chargers  _suck_ now."

 

"I'm just mad about it because they didn't fix the whole Rainmaker situation. They made it easier to win." Mitsuo rolled her hand on her wrist. 

 

"Anyways..." Marie coughed. "Where's that octoling that you've been spending time with?" She blinked, nudging the inkling. 

 

"Oh- She said she's waiting for us." Mitsuo pulled one of her tentacles back. "She should b-" The inkling fell forward when the  _certain_ octoling came rushing towards her, catching her in a tackle-hug. "Yuh-" She groaned, pushing herself up. "Ow..."

 

"Oh- Oh no! Oh jeez!" Christie stood up, hands shaking a little before she picked the elder cephalopod up, bringing her to her feet. "Sorry! I didn't realize you wouldn't have like... Noticed me..." The green inkling snickered, crossing her arms. "Heya, Marie!" The octoling grinned, brushing Mitsuo off. 

 

As Mitsuo whimpered and waved her arms, Marie hummed. "Been a while, hm?" Christie nodded, patting Mitsuo's shoulder. "Well, we have a stage to look at, don't we? Let's go." Marie lead the way into the tower, scanning her pass before the four would board a train out to the new stage. Well, new to the octoling at least. "Callie, you can take Mitsuo. I'll take Christie here." 

 

Mitsuo opened her mouth, wanting to tell them _Wait, I need to talk to her-_ before Callie quickly spoke. "Okay!" She grinned, taking the shorter inkling's hand before rushing over to their spawn, leaving Marie and Christie with each other. 

 

"So, you like chargers?" Christie looked the other girl up and down, tentacles waving slightly to the sides of her head. "I like the E-liter." Marie grinned at this and simply laughed. "Huh?"  


"I'm rather good with my charger, even if Callie or Mitsuo ways otherwise... Hey. C'mere." Marie motioned the octoling to come over to her, before whispering in her ear. " _So Callie gets really surprised if you get a good hit on her... Try to get a few good hits on her, if you want._ " 

 

The octoling grew a wicked grin, calling for her E-Liter before the two of them went to the stage. Callie and Mitsuo had already started moving around the stage, pointing out the little adjustments that were made. "Hey, Callie!" Christie waved to her, putting the sniper to her side as she made her way towards her. Callie grinned and waved, pausing when the octoling stopped, and began to charge the weapon. Callie immediately glared at Marie, mouthing a small  _Fuck You._ to her before avoiding the shot. Christie laughed, holding her stomach. "You were right!" Marie went past her and patted Callie's back, Christie running after them. 

 

"That was because I ate your lunch, wasn't it?" Callie huffed, crossing her arms. The elder cousin laughed, nodding. "Come on! It's been two days."

 

"Hey, you knew better than that." Marie flicked the other's bang tentacle, before looking to the younger agents. " _Anyways_ , find anything cool?"

 

"Not really. It's kinda upsetting to be honest." Mitsuo crossed her arms, taking a seat on one of the railings that lined the middle of the stage. Christie sat next to her, humming. The inkling didn't look up to the cousins, but instead down at her lap. Her eyes seemed _dull_ , anxious... But she didn't let that part of herself reflect in the tone of her voice. She kept it to the polite inflection she used with the elder inklings as she asked them something "Sooo... How have you guys been?" The cousins opened their mouths, looked at each other, then pursed their lips. Callie's tentacles stiffened up when she thought of something, a devious grin crawling to her features. 

 

"Marie's been hanging out with Nelly a lot!" Callie pulled her cousin to her side, arm around her waist. "I think they had a date coming up soon~" She teased, sticking her tongue out at the older inkling. Marie pushed her off, covering her face. "Oh? Marie, are you embarrassed?" Callie bent over, hands going to her own hips as she pressed towards her. 

 

"You don't have to talk about that here!" Marie barked, the tips of her ears turning a soft green. "It's not funny either! It's j- It's just professional!" Marie whined out, shaking her head.

 

"Sure it is." Callie reached up and pulled on one of her tentacles, Mitsuo's gaze turning behind herself, towards the spawner she and Callie had shared. She brought a hand to her mouth, palm on her chin and fingers covering her mouth. "Huh?" The black-tentacled girl perked up at the other's reaction, pulling her attention away from her flustered cousin. "What's up?"

 

"Ah.. Nothing. I'll be okay." Mitsuo stood up and pulled her phone out. "I think I'm going to hang in the lobby." She pressed on the screen before descending into her squid form and jumping away. Christie yelped, reaching up to grab one of the other's tentacles once she recognized that Mitsuo was jumping away. 

 

"Wait, no-" Christie choked on a word, looking back over to the idols. They shrugged, the octoling growing an uncomfortable itch in her chest. Something seemed off since she noticed the inkling's behavior. It didn't seem entirely like the other agent. Now, she wasn't really a  _bubbly_ person normally, but she certainly wasn't as timid as she had been for the day. "I'm goin' to go after her... Sorry!" She stood, bowing to the inklings before doing the same as her companion, pulling her E-Liter into it's case that was left in the spawning room. Mitsuo was bent over near the door, tentacles limp on her back, almost  **stiff**. She had her face buried into an arm, back turned away from the spawners. "M.. Mitsuo?" Christie's voice visibly scared Mitsuo, causing the inkling to jump and turn abruptly, shoulders hunched. She didn't seem like she was crying, but she did look  _upset_. A coo came from the octoling's mouth at the sight, her making her way over and grabbing onto her shoulders. Pushing her thumbs against the pseudo-muscle, she began to massage at the area. "Hey..." 

 

The inkling began to relax herself with the help of the octoling, her eyes closing and a sob escaping herself. Christie continued to hum to her, before hugging her tightly. "I'm sorry.." Mitsuo whispered, holding tight onto the younger girl. "I'm sorry.." 

 

"What for?"

 

"I've been um- Keeping something from you..." Mitsuo knew that what she was keeping wasn't anything bad but... It still left her with a ball of anxiety. She wasn't someone who liked to keep people in the dark, it  _terrified_ her. And what scared her even more was Christie, who froze up. She began to whimper, turning back and shaking her head. "Wait, it's not bad! It's not bad!" Mitsuo sobbed again, more of a  _habit_ coming from the fact that she had just been doing so. "I- I know that Grizz wanted to keep this a secret for you but- We're going to be working together and- I was just scared that I would'a slipped up and- He really wanted to.. Um.." Her voice trailed off as the octoling began to grow a ineffable glare. "D-Don't hate me!" She covered her face. 

 

"Why would I hate you?" Christie furrowed her brows, a hand moving up and ruffling the other's head. "I just... You scared me! If you just... Had something like that on your mind you could have just said something... You worried us.."

 

"I'm sorry." The inkling sauntered on her feet. "I really am..."

 

"Don't worry about it!" The octoling began to grow a grin. "I'm happy that you did tell me, instead of running off again!" She had a teasing bite to her words. "I'm not sayin' you gotta tell us everything but..." She moved her hand down to her cheek, then her shoulder. Behind them the spawners activated, aiding to a shutter and a nervous laugh coming from the inkling. "It's really cool that we are! That means we get to hang out more!" Christie balled her hands into fists, jumping. "I'm excited! I can't wait to work with you!" 

 

"Ah- me too!" Mitsuo couldn't help but crack a grin, happy of the other's tone change. She knew that even if the other wanted to, she couldn't be serious all of the time... And neither can she.

 

"Well... I suppose I'll see you later, Mitsuo! I gotta get home before Marina or Pearl gets worried!~" Christie grabbed the E-Liter case and made her way out, the inkling frozen where she was. She never imagined she would feel intimidated by the octoling.  _Surely_ she was learning how to be assertive from the other pair of idols... But her closeness? That's what brought another shiver down her spine.  _Why did I feel like that when she was comforting me? It's not like she meant it in-_

 

"Awe!" Her thoughts were cut out by Callie's voice, cheery and sweet. The black-tentacled inkling went over to her, the same teasing attitude in her voice. "You look a little star-struck..."

 


	9. Dazed

> **Daze**  
>  dāz  
>  verb  
>  make (someone) unable to think or react properly; stupefy; bewilder.

* * *

 

It was forever since Mitsuo had an actual job. Not something like Agent work, not doing  _Turf Wars_ , nothing like that. The first day she was due in it was hard for the inkling to get up. Something felt like it was dragging her back into bed, begging her to fall back into the darkness of sleep. Nevertheless she shook off the chains of drowsiness and went to her closet, tired eyes flicking over her wardrobe. She knew that whatever she was going to pick out was just going to be replaced with the uniform that the tall cephalopod showed her that owned to her, but she still wanted to try to find something  _presentable_. No use in going to a job on the first day looking like death-- Even if she felt like it. And she  _ **really**_ felt like it. 

 

Her hands skirted past the shirts, some having tags from being gifts from her neighbors and her boss. The latter shirts were admittedly... A bit too baggy, but she still had accepted them without complaining. Once she found one she had wanted, she pulled it out and changed into it. Mitsuo had a habit of sleeping in her clothes, especially when she had been out for a long night. Thankfully- Or maybe not- last night was one of those nights. She was dragged along with  _Nelly_ and  _Marie_ to go look through some of the other cafes in the city, much like the one Grizz brought her to the last month. Actually... Now that she thinks about it, one of them was the same one... She was too tired to recognize it at the time though. Mitsuo dropped the button-up she was wearing from the night off on her floor and kicked a pair of slip-ons on herself along with her tank. 

 

She sleepily made her way through the quiet apartment, shaking her head in some attempt to break the doze that had started to crawl back to her again.  _Ugh.._ She started a pot of coffee, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. Once beeps started to pour from the coffee maker Mitsuo pulled the pot away and poured herself a cup. She climbed onto one of her counters and held the cup securely in her hands. Coffee never really...  _helped_ her like it should. It was simply a habit for her to drink it, and she found herself with a headache if she didn't.  _Avery_ always commented on it when she was back in the Plaza... " _Avery.._ " She whispered under her breath between a sip. It had been a while since she heard from him, hasn't it? The  _other_ Agent 3. Mitsuo couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt from thinking about it. He was her brother, so why wouldn't she check up on him...? Another thought passed through her mind about what it could be like back home. Shouldn't he be graduating from school soon?

 

The inkling set her cup down and reached for her cellphone, unlocking it and going through to her contacts. She selected the younger boy's name and decided to call him. She knows that he would be awake by now- It was part of the routine that their mother put on them. The phone rang for a good ten minutes before a tired,  _soft_ voice came through the speaker. "Huhh... Mitsuo?"

 

"Good morning!" The girl hummed, taking her coffee cup up and putting the phone on speaker mode. She set it down in the cup's place. "How are you?"

 

"Okay I guess... Um-n..m" His voice trailed off, with some shuffling. "Is everything okay..? You don't usually call.. Or um- This early.."

 

"Oh! Uh-" Mitsuo fiddled with her cup. "I just was thinking about home and.. I wanted to see what's up. Before I went to work."

 

"You have a job? Where?"

 

"Grizzco. Just starting today.."  _Sip._  

 

_Pause._

 

"Avery?" Quiet. "Avery, dude, you couldn't have fallen asleep."

 

"Are you sure you 'wanna work there, Mitsey?" concern laced the boys voice, making it crack more than it already had. "Bad people work there..."

 

"Oh, I'm fine!" The girl laughed, jumping from the counter. "I know Grizz personally, anything that happens he'll know about it."

 

"But-"

 

"I think I have to go around now... You should get ready for school. I love you!" Mitsuo put the cup in the sink and picked her phone up, cooing into the receiver. 

 

"...I love you too, sis." Avery ended the call, leaving the older sibling to stand in her kitchen, awkwardly staring at the photo of the blue inkling that blinked with the words  _Call Ended_ flashing under it as well. She stayed fixated on these words until they disappeared. Some part of her wanted to keep talking to him. But she knew that both of them had places to go. It wasn't worth trying to keep herself and him up any more than they had to be. So she shoved her phone in her pocket, made her way out of her apartment, and made her way through the suburbs towards the center of the Square. There was a soft  _musk_ that filled the air throughout the tired neighborhoods. A mixture of tide-smell and dew, along with the almost metallic smell of broken-down ink soon followed the musk as she reached closer to the Grizzco building. 

 

The first thing that greeted her, unlike her first visit to the place, was actual  _commotion._ There were many other cephalopods gathered around the outside of the building. Many of them were talking about the past weekend, school, the month's gear. A lot of them seemed to be in their teens, and as young as 15. This brought a bubbly curiosity through Mitsuo. What were they doing there? Did they stop school early to do this full-time? Of course, that was legal, but it wasn't something that was very common at their age. Most of those who did turf participated in the afternoons, after all of the buses and school trains retired for the day. Mitsuo made her way over to a group of inklings, one towering her, one being her height, and a shorter one. The shortest was sporting a hat, and with that a pin that had the general symbol for turf wars on it. She had a jacket with a team- one that Mitsuo didn't recognize- on the back, and so did the elder inkling. His tentacles were spiked, and he had a tattoo of a star under an eye. He had a big grin on his face, talking about a tournament that was being held the prior weekend. The middle child of the three had long, dark tentacles and glasses. They wore a dress, adorned with (mostly pulled off) false jewels. They poked the younger inkling, bragging about something involving a Blaster before jumping and waving to Mitsuo. 

 

"Ah- I'm sorry for scaring you!" Mitsuo rubbed at the back of her neck, the three inklings staring at her in awe. "Um- What's with the look?"

 

"You're a Plaza kid, ain't you?" The elder of the three crossed his arms. "I can tell it on your face. And your body." He brought his eyes down her, causing the young adult to yip and pull down her shirt. "Hey, I don't mean it like that. I mean that you're pretty beefy."

 

"B.. Beefy?" 

 

"Yeah! Like you're a 'vet." 

 

"Stop scaring them." The middle inkling pouted, wrapping an arm around Mitsuo. "Kid, don't worry about our brother. He's just like that. He always gets all jiggly over seeing someone who can be a challenge to him."

 

"Excuse me?" Mitsuo grabbed at her own tentacles, an embarrassed huff coming from her. It's not that he made her feel uncomfortable or anything but being addressed so directly threw her off. Nobody ever really pointed something like that out to her... Her instincts told her that she should fight it, but she actually felt very flattered, but she didn't know how to put it into words. "I- I'm not a kid and- T- Thank you?"

 

"What was your rank?" The younger inkling reached up towards Mitsuo. Mitsuo stared at her for a good minute before realizing that the younger was asking to be picked up. She brought her up into her arms. "Yay!"

  
  
"I was er- S+. But I didn't do ranked a lot.." Mitsuo looked down to the girl, who looked really happy. "...How old are you?"

 

"I'm 14! I don't actually work with my siblings." She stuck her tongue out. "I help out with sorting stuff! It lets me have a little more cash, I'm gonna get my own house!"

 

"Well... I hope you have luck in that!" The elder girl tried to match how happy and energetic the girl was and put her back down, adjusting her shirt again.

 

"I've never seen you." The middle one looked back to her while a rough voice rang out, calling Mitsuo's name. "Is it your first day?"

 

"Oh.... yeah.." Mitsuo perked up at the voice, turning towards it. "I hope to see you again!" She waved, the boy growing a sad look. He wanted to talk to her more but, alas, she had other things she had to do. She walked to the source, which was an intercom that was connected to a screen. She tapped on the screen, before a figure popped up on it. The person on the other side looked almost as old as Grizz, and was an inkling. They waved before speaking.

 

"Go on in. Mr. Grizz wants to talk to you before shifts start." 

 

"Ah- Okay!" She pried one of the doors open, and locked it behind herself. A few of the workers reached over in an attempt to enter early as well, leaving Mitsuo to turn around to face the grates and wave with a grin on her face. The other workers stared at her before mumbling under their breath. This made the girl laugh to herself as she made her way back onto the path back to the cephalopods office. The building was off without hearing the buzz of other workers, without smelling the mixture of sour salmonoid ink and  _flesh_. The only sound that cut through the silence was the many fans put around the sub-terrain building. Their hum made a rhythm that the inkling matched with her walking. Once she got to the elder's office she knocked against the door before another inkling opened the door from the inside. They seemed to have an anxious air to them, and was only a few inches shorter than Grizz. They took Mitsuo's hand and shook it. An anxious feeling tugged at her throat, thinking about what they could have possibly called her in for... 

 

"Nice to meet you. I'm the manager of the inner-square branch of Grizzco... I don't think you've met me but I was just meeting with the man himself when he noticed you were outside on the camera feed..." They pointed to the monitor that the cephalopod had on his desk, that he was watching and taking notes on. "He just wanted to talk about your work today and give you your materials..." Mitsuo nodded at this, the elder looking to Grizz. They coughed a little hoping to attract his attention. When he didn't look over, the inkling walked over and flicked the taller cephalopod's forehead. " _Grizz_."

 

Mr. Grizz flinched, recoiling back before rubbing at his eyes. It seemed that the same clutches of sleep was weighing down on the man, leaving his eyes glazed over with a sleepy confusion. He looked to the girl and sat up, the  _rings_ that wrapped around his tentacles glowing softly. A hand reached under his desk before he handed over a bag that the inkling took up and held in her arms. "That bag just has some trinkets you'll want to keep here, cleaning things, food, a few shifts worth of special packs." He closed his eyes, the heel of a palm digging into one of them. "Eugh..." He grumbled and sat back. "Excuse me for ignoring you I'm just... Tired."

 

This made Mitsuo laugh. "Oh, trust me, I am too." She brought her arms through the straps on the bag. "Thank you."

 

"Don't worry about it." Grizz waved his arm before ushering the two inklings out of his office. "Go open the gates, and get ready for your shift. One of my nephews are going to bring you and Christine out to show you the reins." 

 

"Okay!" Mitsuo grinned and left, bringing the bag and herself over to the lockers. She looked to the slow dribble of teens coming into work. There wasn't anyone that looked familiar to her, something that brought a wave of disappointment. Until someone leaned on her, wrapping their arms around her torso. "Hyuk- Get offa-" She turned to whoever hugged her and pauses, a flush coming to her face. "Oh- Sorry-" The inkling felt embarrassed when she didn't even  _recognize_ the octoling. Christie froze, then laughed, rubbing at the back of her neck. "Oh..."

 

 Christie yawned, haven already changed into her uniform. "It's okay." It looked baggy on the girl, a twinge of.. Guilt coming through Mitsuo?  _Why do I feel Guilty?_ She thought to herself before Christie sat down on the bench that was next to Mitsuo's locker. "How was your morning?" She smiled. 

 

"Oh- Good-" Mitsuo laughed, starting to change into her uniform. "I talked to Avery this morning. He's doin' okay. Had to go to school." She placed her clothes into the locker and pushed in the buttons on the side of the overalls given to her. 

 

"School?"

 

"Oh- Wait, do you not know what a school is? I imagine Pearl or Marina would'a told you by now." Mitsuo fixed her tentacles before looking back down at the octoling. "It's where we go to learn. You usually can leave around 14, but you need a lot of different things to do it legally, like proof of rank, permission from a Guardian, proof of work-"

 

"How do you learn?" Christie rested her hands in her lap, having  _that_ look that always enamored the inkling. The soft, wide eyes, relaxed shoulders, up ears. Mitsuo laughed a little, looking away from her. "What, what?"

 

"Oh- Sorry-" She chuckled, pulling her ink tank on. She sat down, moving her hands as she spoke. "School is like... You go to a different building, like work, in the morning and you stay there until the afternoon. An inkling stands up at the front of a room of a lot of younger ones and tells them about stuff. Like... Math, History, y'know. Or I guess- You don't really know-"

 

"Oh..." Christie hummed. "That sounds really cool!" 

 

"It is! Sorta. As you get older, it gets more boring. My mom always said we had to finish school all of the way through. When I became an agent, that kind of messed up the end... But I managed to do it!" She lifted her arm, grinning and looking back to Christie, who clasped her own. "I didn't get any advanced stuff, but I still finished, while helping everyone! It was boring though." Mitsuo closed her eyes. 

 

"Agent?" Another familiar voice came from close to the two of them- that boy from earlier. He had changed into his uniform, having a different hat from the ones the two were given. It was a darker color, along with having a couple of pins on them- Ones that stated his current ranking and power.  _Over 500_. "Uh..." 

 

"Huh-?!" Mitsuo perked, looking at him, and shook her arms. "Agent like- Like-"

 

"You're that kid that beat Octavio's ass!" He stared at her, eyes wide. Christie laughed, covering her mouth. "You're so badass! Holy shit!"

 

"Stop cursing." An blue-ringed octoling came up behind him, hitting his back. "We all can hear you well and clear, Spikes. Don't make a big deal out of it." 

 

"But Cobalt-"

 

"Cobalt?!" Christie stood up, waving her hands. "Hi- Hi-!"

 

"'Sup." Cobalt grinned, before pulling on Spikes' ear. "Don't be so rude to them. Everyone here knows about that stuff, and you know it. It's not a big deal."

 

"Whuh-" Mitsuo stared at the three of them, shaking her head. " _What?!_ " She swore that stuff was supposed to be a secret! At least... That's what Marie and Callie made it seem to be. She stared at the two newcomers, stumbling over her words. "How- What-"

 

"Grizzco takes in a lot of us that came from down under." Cobalt leaned on Spikes. "That includes me an' the girls. Junior doesn't like it so she never comes." She stuck her tongue out. "Grizz said that I 'gotta tag along. So I am. But anyways." She moved her hand, as if reversing something in the air. "It's sort of like... A home away from home, y'know? We get to do similar stuff that we used to, and we actually get rewarded from it. That's why this place has such a bad reputation. Inklings are scared of us. They're scared we're like. Planning on rebelling or somethin'. We're just hanging down here and helping stop overpopulation with the people that we used to work with. It's like... A cycle. We gave them stuff, we fight them for payment, we use that payment to get stuff, we give it to them for doin' good, and we make sure they don't get too overpopulated!" Cobalt grinned. 

 

"That sounds... Really cool, actually." Mitsuo pressed a finger to her mouth. "I never saw it like that!" 

 

"Yep. The news always makes it seem like we're just slaughtering them for no reason, or that they hate us. They don't. They just want to play. So we play with them. They pay us to do it, and Grizz gives us whatever he makes off of it. I mean, you really wouldn't expect to see one of those Salmonoids walkin' up to some store that buys off those eggs and actually being able to do stuff. So, we just do it for them! They don't get hurt badly from it either. Or at least... The ones who we deal with, the boss dudes don't get hurt. The little dudes though. Yeah. But that's the point of it!" Cobalt patted Spikes' shoulder, stepping back. "It's like having too many... I 'dunno the idiom. Isn't it like... Rats and Cats or something?"

 

"I think so." Mitsuo nodded, pausing when she felt a tug at her chest. She stood and turned away. "Hey, we should get going."

 

"Oh! Yeah! I'm excited! Do you think we're gonna be able to work with them often?" Christie nodded, pulling her ink tank on, before waiting for Spikes to lead the way. 

 

"Probably. I mean, we are on Cobalt's level... Right?" 

 

"Yeah!" Christie closed her eyes, her head bobbing off to a rhythm in her own head. She seemed so... Peaceful. It was weird to see her like that to the inkling, but she just couldn't pit  _why_ it seemed weird. Could it be just from how the two engaged the last time she saw her? Mitsuo looked to the ground, trying to tune into whatever Spikes and Cobalt were talking about. Something about a famous player coming in lately with a few others, something about how humid it was. Something still stung in her chest though. Something that replaced the bewilderment she had only moments prior. Until she recognized what she was feeling. Mitsuo reached out for Christie, who turned once she felt the other's glove reach her shoulder. "Mitsuo?" 

 

"I'm going to go erum- I'm-" Mitsuo stuttered, Christie's eyes widening. The octoling said something to Cobalt in their language- something that the girl couldn't understand- before pulling her into an embrace. She traces circles on Mitsuo's back, humming. "T... Thank you.." Mitsuo's chest rose and fell as she started to wave off another wave of anxiety.  _Why_ _have I been feeling like this..._ She shook some, Spikes and Cobalt coming over. "I.. I think- I think I can keep going now- Sorry-" 

 

"Are you sure?" Cobalt tucked her tentacles behind herself and rested a hand on Mitsuo's shoulder. "We don't want you to get anxious like that when we can't get you anywhere safely."

 

"Mhm." Mitsuo nodded, head lulling some. "Can I just... Have like some water?" She peered up at the elder girl, who nodded and hurried off. Spikes bit his bottom lip before going off with her. Christie continued to hum to her, the inkling leaning into her skinny yet sturdy frame. "Christie..?" She mumbled under her breath, taking a deep breath.

 

"Yes?"

 

"You wouldn't mind if... I came over tonight, would you?" 

 

"Not at all." Christie rubbed the back of her head. She looked to Cobalt and Spikes, who had came back with a bottle of water. She took the bottle and stepped back, handing it to Mitsuo. "Here. Let's go off now, okay?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw ao3 is ao3 and doesn't work well and u realize u have to split the chapter in 2 bc its getting long


	10. Presage

** presage **

ˈpresij,prəˈsāj  
noun  
1\. a sign or warning that something, typically something bad, will happen; an omen or portent.  


* * *

 

Mitsuo took the bottle, giving her a weak smile. She cracked the top open, twisting it off and pocketing the cap. She took a swig of the liquid before nodding off to Spikes and Cobalt. The two moved forward, the team back on queue to head off for their first rotation. Spikes helped Christie and Mitsuo up into the ship, sitting back and revving the engine. Christie sat down on one of the benches, Mitsuo following suite. The inkling nursed on the drink until she had finished it. She let it rest in her lap as she listened to the ship skip through the ocean. The water started thin, then grew thicker and more murky as they started closer to the beach-like island. On it stood a box, reinforced by steel. The stench of  _rot_ and  _ink_ started to fill the crew's senses, Christie and Mitsuo seeming like the only two that were bothered. Christie more than the latter, though. She bent over, covering her mouth and nose. Cobalt took note of this, quickly finding a face-mask to give to the other octoling. She offered one to Mitsuo, but she simply shook her head. "I don't really... Need it." She stood up. "Wait, are we not docking?" She looked to Spikes. 

 

"Nope. We're super jumping over." Spikes stretched some. "Are you guys ready?" Cobalt nodded, then went back to making sure Christie was okay. The younger octoling gave a thumbs up, standing up straight and walking over with Cobalt. "Mitsuo?"

 

Mitsuo laughed, then coughed. Okay,  _perhaps_ the smell was overwhelming. She walked over, taking up the mask that Cobalt offered and pulled it on, before joining the other three. "I'm fine now." Spikes nodded, falling into his squid form and jumping. The other three followed him, pulling themselves out from the psuedo-spawnpad that was installed into the ground. Their ink turned into a collective redish-pink color, bringing Christie to purr and shake Mitsuo's arm.

 

"You look adorable with that color!" Christie closed her eyes, Mitsuo growing a reddish blush acrossed her face. "You too, Spikes!" The young adult laughed, adjusting his hat. The aforementioned box opened, a webbed basket popping out and 4 weapons ejecting from it. A Splattershot, E-Liter, Blaster, and a Flingza Roller. Christie immediately reached for the E-Liter, despite a quick protest by Spikes. "Heh! First come first serve~!" She stuck her tongue out.

 

"Well, then I call the Blaster." He picked it up, leaving the Splattershot to go to Cobalt and the Roller to Mitsuo. "So, it's simple. There's certain salmonids that give off golden eggs. The rest give off-"

 

"Power eggs." Mitsuo had been messing around with the Flingza's head, amused with how it would extend when she did a horizontal flick. "Yeah, I know that part, I'm sure Christie does too... But... What else?"

 

"There's different conditions that could happen." Cobalt started, explaining the different types of rounds, such as the Goldie and Mothership. Mitsuo and Christie listened in, before the boat started to play a siren, along with a perpetual  _Clicking_ noise. The sound of splashes, along with shuffling in ink started to fill the island, Mitsuo perking up. "There's a boss somewhere. Mitsuo, Spikes, you can go look towards the beach. I'll go check back here with-" She was caught off guard by the sound of the E-Liter letting off a charge, and it hitting a Steelhead's bubble. The sound got followed by a soft  _chime_ , similiar to the boat's sound, and Christie laughing. "How-"

 

"I read the manual!" Christie laughed, before descending into her ink and following after the trail she made with her E-Liter. Cobalt laughed and followed, along with Mitsuo and Spikes. "Here!" She picked up two of the eggs that she couldn't secure on her back to Mitsuo and Cobalt. "Those go in the basket, right?"

 

"Yep!" Spikes grinned, twirling his blaster on a finger. The sound from the boat rang again, yet it seemed  _quiet_. Too quiet. Spikes looked around, furrowing his brows while the three girls took the eggs to the basket. He started to walk up towards it, before screaming out, a Maws haven rushed out of the ink from under him. "Shit-!"

 

The three of them screamed out, Mitsuo rushing over and hitting the large salmonid with her roller. "Let him go!" She pulled the roller back again to hit the maws, before it descended into the ink, leaving the life preserver with the boys swimming soul inside of it. The bait, indicating where the maws was, started to circle Mitsuo. She looked down, bracing herself for the maws to rush up before Cobalt threw a bomb, along with Christie tackling Mitsuo out of the way. The two rolled up some of the stairs to one side of the basket, while the maws exploded in a manner similiar to the Steelhead did, leaving three eggs. One fell into Spikes preserver, while Cobalt grabbed another, hitting his preserver with a few shots of ink. Spikes pulled himself from the ink, coughing up a mixture of sludge and his own ink. "Are you okay, Spikes?"

 

The boy wiped his mouth and picked the last egg up in his arms. "Yeah, I'm fine. I should have seen that coming, to be honest." He waited for Christie and Mitsuo to stand, before handing the egg over to them. Christie reached over, taking it up and bringing it to the basket, looking back to the other two. "This wave should be over soon." Spikes readied the blaster in his hands, hitting a few chums and smallfry with blasts. The three of them fought off some of the underlings before the boat played another siren. Their turned to ink, with the basket spitting out another set of weapons- same ones as before. "Nope!" Spikes rushed foward, taking the E-Liter, leaving Christie with the blaster, along with Cobalt and Mitsuo switching weapons. "Can't have the same weapon twice. Unless it's random." 

 

"That's so boring!" Christie stuck her tongue out, hugging the blaster. Spikes simply laughed as he pulled himself up to the ledge that stood next to the basket, resting the E-Liter on his lap. Christie moved to the other girls, smiling. "This is more fun than I thought it would be!" She grinned widely. Chimes flew through the air once again, signaling the next wave of the shift. Clouds started to swarm in the sky, casting a growing shadow over the small island. The octoling looked up to them, a smile curling to her lips. Something about it felt calming to her. But rather clearly not to the two inklings that accompanied them, especially when the chimes would continue. 

 

Then the ringing stopped. Spikes let out a soft sigh, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Thank god. It's not a Goldie round." He kicked his feet. "Be careful next wave though. We might get one, especially with how dark it's getting." Cirris, Mitsuo, and Christie all nodded, before dispersing to look for whatever bosses had made their way to the beach this time. Spikes kept watch near the basket, E-Liter ready in case he caught eye of something like a steelhead or eel. This round went a lot smother than the last, with the four cephalopods moving around accordingly to each of the bosses that came through. Spikes grinned every time one of the girls would pop up to the basket to drop off their horde of eggs they managed to get. "Y'all are doing great!" He waved to them all. 

 

"Thank you!" Christie returned the smile, shoving another egg into the basket. She climbed up to the perch with him, humming to herself. "How much longer until the next round?" 

 

"Can't be but another few minutes. But I'm just worried, it is getting rather dark..."

 

"What's wrong with that?" Christie blinked up to him, then looked to the sky. Surely, the clouds continued to gather in the sky, bringing an almost artificial nighttime across the island. She narrowed her eyes up, before she started to notice... Stars? Something felt wrong about it in her stomach, though. "Wait... Is that what you were talking about?" Spikes followed her gaze, before he got up himself, Mitsuo and Cobalt finishing off their own hordes and walking over. 

 

And so another round of chimes, along with their weapons turning to ink and being replaced by the basket's, signaled the next wave. The 'stars' started to descend to the island while bells rang on the distant ship. "Goldie." Spikes picked up the Flingza, and stood. "If either of you get targeted," He pointed towards the hill on the opposite side of the island, next to the three docks. "You go there, after our lead. The salmonids are going to be restless and rush towards you. Cobalt, if you'd take the blaster, that would be great. Mitsuo, you can handle the E-Liter, right?"

 

"I- Um-" Mitsuo yelped, taking it up. "It's been a while, but I'm sure I can!" 

 

"Good. Let's head over, and don't forget to ink the walls, on both sides. Mitsuo, you can do that once you get over there. Christie, you can ink the walls on the other side." Spikes dipped into the ink and swam up to the little outlook, the three others following after him and doing as he said. When the chimes ended, the 'stars' began to flutter around Spikes, him standing towards the wall. "Okay- Just try to defeat anything that comes over here, and two of you can bring eggs away."

 

"You're getting pretty bossy, eh, Spikes?" Cobalt stuck her tongue out to the boy, before she started to shoot at the rabid salmons. "Nice to see you actually giving some orders for once." Spikes blew a raspberry at her, before the first Goldie came up. Cobalt dipped into her ink before throwing a bomb and finishing it off. "Mitsuo, c'mon. Christie, stay here, please?"

 

"Roger that!" Christie grinned, dipping herself to get more ink while Mitsuo and Cobalt dodged the salmonids to get the eggs to the basket. On their second trip to get another one, the 'stars' flew around Mitsuo, a few salmonids rushing her off of the platform. Christie flinched, rushing forward and shooting at the green-inked menaces. "Switch with Spikes-" She looked back at Mitsuo, then started to step back, trying to keep a distance with the hordes of salmonids rushing her. "Spikes!" 

 

The spiky tentacled boy rushed over, sending a wave of ink against the salmonids that were attacking Christie. "Got'cha! Make your escape!" He started to push the salmonids away, Mitsuo gulping and climbing back up. Spikes followed suite, flicking his roller off to whomever was climbing up the stairs to her. When the next Goldie came up, he and Christie dealt with it, Spikes grabbing a couple of eggs. "Cobalt, mind grabbing that last one!"

 

"Nope!" Cobalt slid over and grabbed it, pushing the egg into the basket and returning with Spikes. This rotation of protection, then transportation kept up until the end of the wave, the four of them cheering when the boat's chimes began to start up again. "Finally!" Cobalt grinned, letting her weapon go into the ink. She looked over to Christie and Mitsuo. "You two did amazing for your first shift!"

 

Mitsuo rubbed at the back of her neck and laughed to herself. "Eh... Really? I didn't do that much..."

 

"You still helped a lot!" 

 

"Yeah! I can't wait for tomorrow, you're really fun to work with, you two!" Spikes tipped his hat to the two girls, before wiping some sweat off of his forehead. "It's about time to head back though. Unless you two  _want_ to stay on this island all night." He teased.

 

"I'd rather not." Mitsuo shook her head. "Let's go..." Spikes nodded, leading the three others to super jump to the boat. Spikes made his way to the helm of the ship, Cobalt joining him and resting against the wall next to him. The two began to chat, while Mitsuo shuffled over to a seat. Christie joined her, stretching. "Hm?" Mitsuo peered up to the other girl. 

 

"Oh! I'm just stretching. My back feels a little sore..." Christie continued to stretch her limbs out, Mitsuo nodding.

 

"You probably can lay down until the ship gets home." 

 

"Good idea!" Christie finished her stretching, before shuffling on the seat. She scooted away from the inkling, before turning and laying, resting her head on her lap. Christie stuck her tongue out to Mitsuo. "You should really keep that color! You look really cute with pink!" Mitsuo's tentacles stiffened up, the same blush returning. She coughed again, covering her mouth. "Mitsuo?"

 

"S-Sorry." The inkling stammered, laughing to herself. "I've- I've never really had anyone compliment me like that."

 

"Wha~at! It's true!" Christie raised her hands up. "You look adorable!" 

 

"Christie!" Mitsuo covered her face to try to cover her blush, and to hide her increasing breaths. She... Didn't really know how to handle it. Did the- Did the octoling know that her compliments were almost  _flirtatious?_ Well, Christie certainly took a note of her breaths out of anything, sitting up and grabbing onto her shoulders. "Christie...?"

 

"Hey... Did I say something bad?" The octoling frowned, bringing a hand up to move the inklings, and to see her face. "Are you okay? Your breathing..."

 

Mitsuo froze again, the 'stars' that outlined her pupils brightening. She nodded. "I'm. I'm fine. It's just..." 

 

"Just?"

 

"I could be overthinking it..." Overthinking? No... She was sure it was meant for it. Christie did say the same thing earlier- Or maybe it was something she picked up from Pearl and Marina? But the octoling wasn't stupid. She knew that. Yet something in her stomach flutters at the thought of it being purposeful. Could she be hoping it was...? "But..." Mitsuo chokes on her words. It's almost like that hope is stopping her from informing the octoling. But she powers through it after Christie sits up more. "When you say those things- Like that- It's usually for someone that you, admire?" Mitsuo internally curses herself for that. 

 

"Well, I do admire you!" Christie's concern melted into a genuine grin. "You're a really strong person, and I think that you deserve more compliments!"

 

Mitsuo's heart melted at that. She got up, walked to the helm, and leaned against the wall opposite of Cobalt, arm on the wall, and face buried into it. "You okay?" Cobalt called over. Mitsuo shook her head.  _Why_ did she feel like this? A part of her refused to put the pieces together... That her anxiety would be a mixture of fear about the octoling, and her own infatuation with her. She started to giggle under her breath, thinking about it. "...Weirdo." Cobalt stuck her tongue out. Christie on the other hand, sat up on the bench, confused. She didn't understand  _why_ Mitsuo got so flustered... And why she ran off. A part of her wants to follow her but, maybe, just maybe, it could be easier to let her be, and ask Pearl about it later... 

 

And so, the ship reached the harbor spot designated for Grizzco, and the four climbed off, making their way back to the building. Christie trailed behind the three, staying quiet as Mitsuo quietly chatted with Spikes and Cobalt. A wave of jealousy went through the octoling at the sight... But she didn't say anything. It wasn't a malicious jealousy, and she could tell it... But it was still jealousy.

 

They all returned to the Grizzco building, got their previous clothes on and items from their lockers, and all started their own ways either home or to hang around. Christie peered into Grizz's office, seeing a rather... Tall octarian, with dark reddish skin and even darker red tentacles flowing to match with him, the two chatting. Grizz looked over to her, and waved before motioning her to leave. Christie furrowed her brows, then made her way back home. Christie pushed the door to the home she shared with Pearl and Marina open. "I'm home!" She waved around, until she heard a few voices from the kitchen. 

 

"Are you sure you saw him?" Pearl's voice sounded concerned, while the voice that returned, a male's that sounded around her age responded. 

 

"I went to go check on the um... Snowglobe with Whitney and... He was gone... And I thought to check M-Mitsuo's apartment and I saw him in the lobby- In his full form..."

 

"Are you sure it could be him, Avery?" A third voice, Marina's came from it. 

 

"W-What other octarian has a scar like that..." 

 

"A lot..." Marina's voice was laced with a chuckle. Christie finally let her curiosity get the best of her, shuffling into the kitchen. "Oh! Christie! How long have you been here?" In the kitchen was Pearl, along with a younger inkling at a table with her. He had his tentacles in a ponytail, freckles across his pale face, and a long sleeve. A backpack sat next to the table, along with a medical bag. Marina was near the stove, fixing together what looked to be dinner. 

 

"A few minutes... I wanted to ask Pearl about something but... Who are you guys talking about?" 

 

"Octavio." Avery, the other inkling, looked over to her. "I swear he was in the lobby of Mitsuo's apartment building. 

 

"That's weird... Marie and Callie live there." Christie furrowed her brows, grabbing a chair for herself. "Isn't... Octavio the bad, funny dj dad guy?"

 

"Dad guy?" Pearl laughed, looking over to Marina, who pouted and looked away. "Did you call him Dj Dad before or something?"

 

"I'm not wrong!" Marina huffed loudly, Christie laughing with Pearl. "You don't get to laugh either!"

 

"He was though!" Christie continued to laugh, Avery shrinking in his seat. "You're Avery, right?" She looked over to him.

 

"Y-Yes." 


	11. Drums

Drums.

 

It felt almost like drums in her chest, the beating as the three others with her kept talking over her. It felt like what she heard come from the girl's chest. And she did not enjoy it. Christie got up from her seat and rested her hands on the table in front of Avery. "Where's Whitney?" She almost demanded, short breaths coming through her words as she felt her chest beat. "I want to talk to them."

 

Avery looked unsettled for a moment to Christie's outburst. "They went home... Are you okay? Your breathing hard..." Avery sat up, reaching towards her. She sighed, rubbing at her eyes. "Christie?"

 

"Something happened... I just need to talk to them." Christie scratched under her jaw, Avery nodding. "I'll be heading over there." She slipped out of the kitchen and to her room, changing into a different outfit than what she had been from the morning- just something a tad bit warmer due to the impeding darkness. The octoling made her way out of the home, and followed the way she kept mentally to get to the apartment. She had been there a couple of times with Ferox, just to get a couple of things before heading out for Turf, so it was something that was familiar to her. When she reached the building, she furrowed her brows to a new vehicle that was parked in the normally empty spot assigned to their apartment. Jet black, with a red interior. There sat a suit, along with a few boxes in the back and some cleaning materials. Odd... Did they have... Maybe a maid or something? Or was it just a mistake parking? 

 

She made her way into the building, then climbed the stairs up to the apartment.  _They keep the key behind the numbers, it's really fuckin' stupid and obvious but they say it's for Nelly's sake._ She recalls from one of the times Ferox brought her over- And she reached behind the plated numbers. Surely, there was a key, and she pushed it into the door and opened it open. Three voices- all masculine- were inside, talking about something involving a video game? Whatever it was, it didn't catch Christie's attention, before one grew closer. "...Who opened the door?" The voice would be Ferox's, and surely, his head popped into the small mudroom. "Oh shit! Christie! Hey!" He grinned, waving off to her. "Come on in- But uh- Put the key back." Christie flinched, then nodded, resting the key back behind the numbers and shuffling back inside. She set her coat off to the side and made her way inside. There in the living room sat 3 cephalopods, Ferox and an unknown inkling on a couch, and Whitney on one of the chairs, a controller in their hand as they played some random platformer on the television. "'Sup, Christie! Rare to see you around this late." Ferox patted the spot next to him. As Christie walked over, she would notice his arm was around the taller inkling's wrist, who looked her up and down. "I don't think you've met Toni before?" 

 

"...Toni?" She sat down, pulling her tentacles back. "Like... That brand that you always wear?" 

 

"Yes." The inkling nodded. "It's my brand. It's good to meet you, Christie. I've heard some things about you, like your strength." He held his hand out, and Christie stared at it, confused. "Oh. Ah... I don't seem to learn." He drew his hand back, resting it in his lap. "I suppose he's only referred to me as his boss?" 

 

"Oh!" She perked up. "Yeah! That's why you seemed familiar!" Christie nodded. "So... Why are you here?"

 

"Why are you?" 

 

"I... Um." She coughed a little. "I wanted to ask Whitney about erm. Inkling customs." Toni perked up, Ferox looking over to him, shaking his head. Toni stood, Ferox visibly looking  _done_. "Huh?"

 

"If you need to know anything, feel free to ask me!" Toni smiled sweetly to her. "I've been on this Earth for a long time, and I'm sure I may have some clue to what is troubling you. Would you like to stay in here, or go somewhere  _private_ if its something among those lines?" Whitney looked up at the emphasis, and Christie quietly repeated him to herself. 

 

"Um- No, it's okay. It's just about... Flirting? I think?" She rested her hands in her lap. "You see, there's this inkling who I admire a lot. She's... Really strong, and cool, and she's super sweet! But... Some of the things I've been saying and doing has been making her flustered lately, and incredibly anxious." Her tentacles slowly shifted in the air, much like a cat's tail while casing their prey. "It's been making me worried- Am I saying something wrong? I feel... Weird. Like... I like her! As a friend- But I still like her! When I see her, my hearts beat like drums, and a small part of me gets lightheaded and happy... Like, I want to stay there for a long time!" Toni nodded. "I'm... Scared that what I'm saying is being taken poorly... And that she thinks I'm just weird! I don't know if I like her actually though... She's the first  _girl_ I ever knew... The only girl I've known to care a lot about me! You know, besides Pearl and Marina." 

 

"Pearl and Marina?" Toni repeated. "You know the idols?" 

 

"Yes! They're almost like parents to me. I don't feel the same for them though. I don't get that... Weird chest feeling!" 

 

"Well..." Toni closed his eyes, then crossed his arms, dramatically nodding his head. "I believe you have a case of. Love." 

 

"...Why do you say that like it's bad?" Whitney laughed, covering their mouth and pausing their game at Christie's response. "What?!" She looked over, frowning. "Is love a bad thing?"

 

"No, no!" Whitney waved their hands. "Love isn't bad at all!" They rubbed at the back of their head. "I was laughing because of your reaction."

 

 Christie looked down, conflict stringing through her eyes. "O-Oh.." The drumming returned to her. Something in her head rang. A feeling of guilt? It didn't seem right though. It felt almost like disgust- At the thought of the word love being associated with the other girl. And that disgust brought more drumming, her vision going somewhat blurry with tears that started to well in her eyes. Something in her chest ached at the idea.  _There's no way that it can be with an inkling like her_ , the throbbing complimented her thoughts. Until she felt hands on her arms. She flinched, vision returning and she stared straight at starry eyes, laced with a silver red and surrounded in a conjoined mask. Toni had rushed over and started to hum to her, concern wavering his voice. "U-Um." She stammered, Toni pausing before moving back, hands still around her biceps.  "Ah... I'm sorry." 

 

"What's wrong?" 

 

"Um-"

 

The older adult gripped onto her arms- bringing a dull pain to them."You were crying for a while, Christie. Was it something one of us said?" 

 

"N-No. I-" She attempted to collect her thoughts back, feeling the same warmth coming to her face, tears pricking her eyes. She sniffled. "I feel bad for... Liking her. I feel like I'm not supposed to."

 

Toni looked over to the other two cephalopods, then back to her.  "Like... Because she's a girl or-"

 

"Because she's an inkling." Christie admitted and met Ferox's eyes, which widened, and looked away. Ferox covered his face. "I know it's stupid but... I feel bad because she isn't an octoling! I feel weird about it!"

 

"It's perfectly fine, Christie. There's no reason anymore that you should feel like that." Toni shuffled next to her and wrapped an arm around her torso. She looked down to her lap, rubbing at an eye. "Hey. Girlie." She looked back up to him. "I'll take you out after work for a few days, and I can help get stuff set up for you guys to have a date. I'm sure that if you put effort into wanting to woo her, she'll understand you and you two can talk about y'alls feelings properly." He smiled. "I'll even get Grizz of his 'mate to help out. Heard he was back in town, 's been a while." Christie sniffled again, nodding. "You work with Grizz, right?" Another nod. "Okay! Then it's a plan! We'll go out, you can get some stuff for yourself, and we can figure out where to bring you two so you guys can have a nice night out. How does that sound?"

 

"G-Great." Christie nodded, a grin slowly coming to her face. She rubbed at her nose. "Thank you, sir."

 

"Eh, you don't have to be formal. Just call me Toni." 

 

"Oh! Okay! Thank you, Toni!" 


	12. Rose

Those eyes. Rose, with bright circles around them. They haunted her vision as she brought herself back to the locker room. Mitsuo brought a hand to her forehead. Surely, no fever. So why did she feel  _warm_? Changing into her clothes, she looked after the octoling, who was changing back into hers. Her head hung low as she pulled her shorts back on, tentacles with a lack of animation. Some part of her feels guilty at it. If she didn't let her anxiety get over her like that, maybe the two of them could have left home together? It didn't feel right to, even if she wanted to. Something about just abruptly leaving someone like that brought common sense of  _maybe lets give them space_.

 

Mitsuo pushed her locker closed and made her way off to the opening, freezing upon passing someone. Her heart throbbed for a moment, and she looked back, to nothing. Yet a smell, extremely fresh, proved to her that someone had passed. Unlike the other octolings, whoever it was, was distinct. And  _familiar_. Extremely familiar. She moved to attempt to chase after whoever passed her, but figuring it was just her imagination, she sighed and continued her way back to the apartment complex. As she brought herself up the steps in the building, that smell returned. She narrowed her eyes, and opened the door into the hallway that had the idol's and her rooms- before something brought her to gasp. The idol's door was broken on the ground, the space where it was as well. She rushed over, staring inside. "Marie?! Callie?!" 

 

What she didn't expect to meet her was the sight of the two of them, relaxing on... Well, what was a couch. It was pulled out and had an extra mattress added to it, and the two of them were reclining to the different sides of it and watching some sit-com. Marie waved. "'Sup. Welcome home." 

 

"I- Your- Your door!" 

 

"Long story."

 

"Tell me the story!" Mitsuo raised her hands, walking inside the home. She covered her mouth. " _By god_ what reeks of Octarian? Did you guys invite a whole group of them here or something?" 

 

"The next best thing!" Callie sat up, balling her fists. "We brought Octavio home!" 

 

"You WHAT?!" The inkling screamed, eyes widening. "Why would you do that?!"

 

Callie pursed her lips, clasping her hands together and making a pout-y face. "I figured that since we can't watch him now that we have to have actual lives... We would bring him home... We have a promise too!" Mitsuo raised her brows. "If he causes any problems, we throw him in the ocean!" Mitsuo stared at her, skeptical. "No, I'm kidding. We're pretty much putting him to work with 'Grizz 'cuz they're buddies, and I figure that if you guys worked in the same place, he would be less inclined to cause issues!"

 

"...There's no way he's working with me."

 

"That's why he's Grizz's assistant!" Callie closed her eyes and raised her arms. "He needed one, and Octavio immediately took the spot up! He said he would'a liked it because it gives him enough power and stuff to do so he wouldn't get bored!"

 

"You really thought this out before you brought him up, didn't you guys...?" Callie nodded, bringing her hands to her lap. The sound of footsteps created a chorus as they grew closer to the room, only stopping once they reached them. "Huh-" Mitsuo turned and was faced by a man nearly Grizz's size, tentacles tied up in a bun and shades over his eyes. The figure stared down at her, a cacophony of emotions covering his face. Mitsuo stepped back a few, a nervous smile coming across her features. "Ah, Octavio... Hello!" 

 

The man stayed still for a few more minutes, quiet, then relaxed. He took his shades off and rubbed at his eyes. "Ah, it's been a while." He held his hand out. "Forgive me, really. I was anticipating you to yell at me, or something among those lines. I know it's irrational but..." 

 

"It's fine!" Mitsuo laughed a little, her stature making it clear that she was warming up to him rather quickly. "You don't look a day older." 

 

Octavio's chest rose with a deep laugh. " _G'yahhaha_ , you flatter me 'kiddo." The octoling pet her head before moving past her and taking a seat on the bed. "I was just out seein' Grizz. Fella's doin' good. Missed him." Mitsuo smiled a little. "You look famished, kid. Don't tell me you've been starvin' yourself." 

 

"No!" Mitsuo perked up as she looked back over. "I just- I  _just_ got home. Well, almost home." Octavio cocked an eyebrow. "I live across the hall." 

 

"Marie, get her some leftovers when you make dinner." 

 

"What?" 

 

"You heard me, doll." Octavio put his shades back on. "Anyways, get some rest. You have work again tomorrow, don't you?" Mitsuo nodded. "I'll bring you some breakfast and bring you in then. Do you mind that? Might as well, since we're going to the same place." 

 

"I don't mind!" Mitsuo nodded. "Thank you so much." She bowed before waving. Octavio and Callie perked up as the latter's phone begun to buzz, Callie picking it up. Mitsuo paused for a moment, watching as Callie handed the phone to Octavio. She made her way across the hall and into her own apartment. She sighed, closing her door and covering her face. "Oh my god..." 

 

Mitsuo begun to straighten up her apartment, anticipating the elder octoling to come over in the coming hours. Even if the two were at least on... Casual terms now, she still felt as if it was respectful to be sure her home was orderly. She changed into her bed clothes and sat at the kitchen, staring at her phone. There were 3 missed calls from Avery, along with 2 voicemails. She rubbed at the bridge of her nose and listened in to them, Avery giving a general gist of  _I'm here in the Square, Whitney wanted me to help look for Octavio... I'm not staying here though. Just visiting for the week._  

 

The girl rested the phone down on her table and crossed her arms on it, eyes heavy. She started to nod off, softly snoring until a rhythm of knocks hit her door, and Octavio carefully moved inside. "Mitsuo?" 

 

"Ah-!" Mitsuo perked up and rushed out of the kitchen. "Sorry, I had fallen asleep..." 

 

"That's alright." Octavio handed her a container of food. "Here you go. Have a good night, kiddo. Grizz and I are goin' to talk to you in the morning." 

 

"What about?" 

 

"Don't get too ahead of yourself now. Just get some rest." Mitsuo nodded. Octavio waved off and made his way out, locking the door behind himself. Mitsuo looked down to the sealed bowl of food and brought it to the kitchen. 

* * *

 

The next morning was met with the same knocking, Mitsuo jerking awake and rubbing at her eyes. "Ugh..." She whined, getting a bra and jacket on before shuffling off to the door. She unlocked it and opened it for Octavio, who handed her a smaller container, with some fresh fruit. "Thank you, 'tavio." 

 

"No problem. Finish getting ready, I'll just be outside." Mitsuo hummed as she started to munch on the fruit and head back to her room. She pulled on some shorts and cleaned her tentacles off with some soap, staring at the speckles of pinkish-red that remained from the day prior. A shiver went down her back as she recalled what had happened, and she sighed. She didn't mean to rush off and leave the octoling alone like that. Mitsuo looked up at her reflection, staring at the stars that lined her pupils- a sign of maturity for fireflies like herself. As she thought about confronting Christie, her chest pounded with a familiar anxiety. Mitsuo sighed, shaking her head and heading off to Octavio. "You okay, lass? Took you a bit just to get some pants on..." 

 

"Just... Thinking." 

 

"Hm?" Octavio closed her door and started off to the stairs. 

 

"About something that happened yesterday." 

 

"You can tell me more."

 

"Well..." Mitsuo fidgeted with the sleeves to her jacket. "Christie has been... Really kind. But uhm-" Octavio hummed. "She's been really... Flirty. I don't know if it's on purpose but I told her and I got really anxious and ran away when she said she- She meant it." 

 

"Ah... So that's what happened. Well, Three, I'll let you in on something." He opened the door to the complex, letting her through before closing it behind them. "Feelin's like that aren't somethin' that people play around with, unless they're rotten. And I'll tell you that that girl doesn't have an ounce of rot in her veins." Mitsuo nodded. "If you feel the same about her, wantin' to be with her 'n all, I'm goin' to say let your heart speak for you." 

 

"But..." 

 

"But nothin'." Octavio pointed at her. "Y'all are pretty much best friends, right?" 

 

"I- I guess you can say that, yeah!" 

 

"Then even if you two don't go all and work out, then you guys can still be friends. But knowin' what I know for how long I've been in the seas, I'm lettin' you know that if you keep holdin' on your feelings like you are, that you're goin' to end up as fish food." Mitsuo gulped, then the two begun to walk again. "Never would imagine miss fearless would be so scared about an octoling." Octavio snickered. "But I guess I can't blame you. Had a similar time as a kid too. Had a kid I liked, but I felt bad." 

 

"Really?" 

 

"As much as I can be pretty intimidating, I don't lie, kid." He looked down. "Following my heart was the best thing I ever did. But also the worst. But, for you, your whole race ain't at stake, y'know?" He chuckled deeply. " _Gy'aha..."_ Mitsuo nodded solemnly. "Don't be so anxious." He patted the girls back. "We can work on that later, but for now. Go spend some time with her." The salty smell began to waft from the freshly opened Grizzco, giving an almost nostalgic rush to the octarian. Octavio took a deep breath, before taking his shades off and pocketing them. "I'll be in Grizz's office, alright?"

 

Mitsuo headed off from the elder and to the lockers, changing into her uniform. She checked her phone a few times while she waited for Christie to come over... And never got met with what she was expecting. Minutes passed as she felt a pit in her stomach grow, the pink-tentacled girl never showing up. She jumped when Cobalt's voice rang out into the room for her, Mitsuo grabbing her ink tank and hat, rushing over. "Sorry!" 

 

Spikes and Cobalt greeted the young adult, the former grinning widely. "G'morning, Mitsuo!" 

 

"Good morning." Mitsuo nodded off to him, smiling to the two of them. "Is... Christie already on the boat?" 

 

"Ah, she's not with us today." The initial wording made the pit in her stomach tighten even more. Mitsuo stared at Cobalt with  _horror_ , before Cobalt flinched, continuing to speak. "She's- She's just out today. Had to go do something with one of the Kensa's." 

 

"Kensa?" 

 

"That's all I know. We're being joined by someone else today though. I hope you don't mind." 

 

"That's okay..." Mitsuo tried to play it off as not being negative, but her tone said otherwise. The three waited for another inkling to join them before they climbed onto the boat to go off to another of the salmonid islands. Mitsuo sat quietly through the entire trip, hands under her thighs as she thought about the octoling. 

 


	13. Kensa

Toni Kensa pulled up to the Hime residence a few days after the talk between him and Christie. He stepped out of his car, opening the door and relaxing against the opening, waiting for the girl to come outside. When she did, he bowed and stepped back, smiling. "Good morning, Christie." 

 

Christie waved to him, smiling back. "Good morning! We're going to your studio, right?" She slipped into the car when Toni moved aside, and closed her door for her. The inside was sleek- all dark gray leather, with enough space in the backseat to fit just about 3 more adult-sized cephalopods. The young adult relaxed in her seat, which was... Rather big actually. 

 

"That's right. You have a fitting outfit, correct?"

 

"Yep! In my bag!"

 

"Perfect." Toni put his seat belt on, then leaned over to put the octoling's on. "Just drop it off in my office when we get there." Christie nodded as he moved back and started the car. He started off to the building. It wasn't too offly far by car- But by foot? Surely that would have been a work-out. Christie leaned against the door the whole drive, staring out the window in awe. "Never been in a car before?" She shook her head, Toni laughing. "I would imagine Ms. Hime would have one." 

 

"Pearl has one, but she never uses it." 

 

"Hm?"

 

Christie shrugged. "I don't know why. I think she just likes walking to work with Marina." 

 

"Oh? She lives with you two?" Nod. "I never heard about when that happened. That's nice though." 

 

"Do you guys know each other?" 

 

"Nothing outside a business-family way." Toni tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. "Her family owns Enperry, so it's a bit natural that she and my sons would talk while we met about collaborations when they all were younger. Last time I saw her was with Marina though. Always figured they would have good chemistry. That _octoling_ is a good influence on her as well, threw her out of that damned punk phase. You wouldn't imagine the look on her parents faces every time she came with piercings everywhere and torn clothes."

 

Christie laughed, Toni joining in after a few moments. The two of them continued to talk about the idols and their past until they reached a familiar neighborhood- At least, vaguely familiar to the Octoling. She sat up, looking around. "Hey, I think I've seen this place before." Toni hummed. "Isn't there a subway close to here?" 

 

"Keen eye. Yes, that leads off to Inkopolis Plaza." 

 

"I knew your little symbol looked familiar! I saw it in-" She paused. He _doesn't_ know about the deepsea metro, does he...? "I saw it in a dream." 

 

"Really? That's what Ferox had said. Interesting." He pulled up next to a building, parking the car and climbing out. Christie followed after him, pulling her bag- just a backpack- on. "First time I showed him around, he said he saw this place before. Pointed out the little shop and all. Said there was a warehouse close, and that lead off to the subway. It threw me off to be honest, seeing as he barely knew the surrounding area." Toni opened the door for her. "I just assume your parents brought you two around at some point, probably." 

 

Laughing nervously, Christie made her way inside and started up the stairs. "I suppose so! Pretty wild..." Her ears perked when she heard the voice of the aforementioned octoling- along with picking up on his scent. "Ferox!" Her tone shifted to joy as she rushed up, and ran into the waiting room of the studio, tackle-hugging the boy.  "Hello!" She let him go after a moment, Ferox stumbling around before holding his head. 

 

"Shit, Christie, did you like, drink coffee or some shit? You're awake." The boy snickered, fixing the collar of his shirt. 

 

"Nope! I'm just excited. I've never been up here to work! And Toni's gonna make me something!" 

 

"Really?" 

 

"Yep! It's for a secret thing for Mitsuo!" 

 

"Oh. Yeah, he told me about that." Ferox stretched his arms out. "I hope that goes well. If I was you I'd probably already have just beat anxiety's ass and asked her out but." He shrugged, heading over to the door with Toni walked in. "If you wanna be all flashy 'n shit, you do that, man." 

 

Christie giggled, following him as Toni walked over and unlocked the door. The three looked up when another octoling rushed into the room- A girl around the same tone as Christie, with almost pitch black tentacles and blue rings covering them and her skin. She closed the door behind herself and held her chest, tentacles curling and uncurling as she breathed. 

 

Ferox rolled his eyes and headed inside, Toni following him. The two disappeared into a room, unmarked and across the hall from what _was_ marked as Toni's office. Christie watched the girl for a moment before walking over. "Hello!" 

 

The blue ring took another moment to fully recover her breath, before straightening her posture and smiling. "Ah- Oh! You're Christie, aren't you? I've heard a lot about you from Ferox! Never thought you were this cute though!" 

 

Christie yelped, covering her face. "Oh, I'm not that cute... Thank you though! I hope it was good stuff!" 

 

The blue ring laughed, brushing a tentacle out of the youngers face and headed to the door. "Sure you are! And yeah, it was generally positive! A bit jealous too." She winked. "'names Polar. I'm the other octoling model for Toni." 

 

"Nice to meet you Polar!"

 

"You as well. Now, don't give the old man too much grief, alright? I'm kiddin'. He's got nerves of, well, let's just say steel, hm?" Christie giggled. "I've gotta get ready for today's shoot. Toni's probably goin' to wait in his office for you, so just go ahead and relax in there. The first door to the right." Christie nodded as Polar headed off to the room that Toni and Ferox disappeared into, leaving her alone. The waiting room was rather empty, with just a few seats and a collection of magazines in a corner. It didn't look to be much more than just a place for the models to wait for Toni, or for anyone coming in to inquire about the business or to get clothes directly, judging by a window that had a seat inside and a few boxes labeled by clothing line. Inside the small room was a computer, clipboard, printer, and some paper, along with a large pink blanket on the wheel-y chair at the window. 

 

Figuring it probably was time to stop being so _nosy_ , Christie headed off into the hallway and closed the door to it behind herself. She opened the door to Toni's office, looking around. It was pretty barren, save for a desk, two baskets of clothes, a large bookcase.. Or was it a cabinet? There was a _large_ space in the middle that looked to be a cabinet, but the other sides were open cubicles with books. Christie took her bag off and set the outfit- just a tee and some shorts- on his desk and sat down on the couch. On the other side of the door was a mirror.

 

Toni entered the room a few minutes later, a few dresses on his arms. "Ah, I hope I didn't take too long. Could you try these on? If you want, I can head out of the room." 

 

"Please?"

 

Toni smiled and handed the dresses over, then left. Christie rested the garments on the desk and changed into them. She walked up to the mirror in one of them, staring down at herself. She gripped the skirt part of the dress and took a deep sigh. Then jumped, when the door knocked and Polar came in. The elder Octoling walked over and took up one of the dresses Christie hadn't tried on and looked at it. She looked back to the girl, before pulling some scissors out of her pocket and cut at the sleeves, making them shorter. She looked back at her, then walked over, helping Christie out of the previous dress and placed the modified one on her. "You work well with short sleeves, Chris." Polar hummed. "Look." She turned her around to see herself. Despite the cuts being rough, the dress looked good. 

 

Then Polar rested her hand on her back. Christie jumped, Polar flinching. "Ah- sorry!" Christie looked over. "My back's just a little... Sensitive." 

 

"Do you mind if I look at it?" 

 

"...What?" 

 

"Ferox has a scar on his back too. Do you?" Christie was quiet. She nodded. "Hey, don't look sad about it!" Polar smiled sweetly. "That's badass! Take your scars with pride. It shows you fought hard to get to where you are in life." Polar laughed, and she couldn't help but to smile. "You were a soldier, weren't you?" 

 

"Yes." 

 

"I knew y'alls' faces were familiar. Never knew your folk's personally but my parents thought they were cool." She held her fist out. "Don't cover yourself as much, Chris. Be proud of yourself. Be proud of who you are, and wear your scars with a smile on your face. And, about your little crush... Take pride in that too, kid." Christie bumped her fist against Polars. "I know how you feel though. I know how ashamed I was to be an octoling . But you know what? You're doin' the right thing. You're taking action into your own hands, even if it's with some help. You're a pretty cool girl."

 

"How did you-" 

 

"You think I can't catch a hint about kin? I spend way too much time with your brother, dude. Even if you don't think about it consciously, I know that y'all feel pity for yourselves."  Polar pulled on her collar, hissing some. "Jeez... Yours is worse than his." Polar looked over her shoulder in the mirror at her. "What even happened to you guys? This doesn't look like any ink scar I've seen before." 

  


"Ah..." Christie hummed. "It's... A long story." 

  


"We have all afternoon." 

  


Christie hesitated some before explaining to the other girl about what had happened from NAMACO, Polar nodding every so often as she fixed up the sleeves on the dress. After some time, Toni came into the room, a bundle of clothes in his arms. He tossed them into the basket that had scraped articles, and he looked to the two girls, smiling. Then he flinched, rushing over. "What did you do to the sleeves?!" He looked to Polar in a mixture of concern and dismay. 

  


"Cut 'em." Polar snickered, cutting a piece of thread from where she had been sewing a seam into the sleeves. "Don't lie, Kensie, she looks better without those stupid long sleeves." 

  


"Don't call me that." Toni pointed at her, then moved to her other side, looking Christie up and down. The octoling looked back at him, nervously smiling.  "I... Suppose you're right. I figured the sleeves would be good since it's getting colder out." 

  


"That's what coats are for." Polar teased, Toni huffing. "But the most important thing is, do you like it Chris?" 

  


"I mean..." Christie looked down at herself, turning her hips. The dress hugged at her hips and flared out- Just enough to give some volume out from them. It reminded her somewhat of some of the outfits that Cobalt showed her once, that some of the others in their concubine group wore. Yet, she would lie if she didn't like how cute it was. It came up to her neck with lace, leaving a window from the top of her chest and to her shoulders. "I do like it, don't get me wrong!" Christie turned to the two. "I don't know if... Mitsuo would though. She's never really seen me in a skirt like this." 

  


Toni hummed. "Well, let's just say that someone has her part of all of this all in their hands. You don't have to worry about it." He waved his hand, walking out of the room once more. "If you like it, feel free to leave it here so I can get a better one made for you. I'll be sure to have Ferox let you know when it's done." 

  


Christie watched as Polar and him walked out, and shut the door. She looked back at herself in the mirror. She looked over her skin and tentacles, how the little specks of red showed through due to not being covered by fabric. She almost felt _embarrassed_ about it. Shaking her head, she pulled the dress off and took another glance at herself before setting the dress down and pulling her hoodie and sneakers back on. She peered closer into the mirror, this time at her eyes. She flinched at the sight of a slight bump at the top, rubbing her eyes before looking again. For sure, her pupils were for sure starting to develop their shape- Some may call it a figure eight, others call it an infinity symbol. 

  


But what she thought, was that it was scary. Christie felt a strange anticipation bubble in her stomach, mixed with a rumble of anxiety. Part of her wanted to call Polar back, to talk to the elder octoling about it, but she was too scared to. So she closed her eyes and headed out, taking her phone out and staring at it. 

  


Her fingers tapped against the screen before she sent a message off to Mitsuo. 

  


_Do you have any plans next week?_


	14. Flushed

_Do you have any plans next week?_

 

Next week? Didn't the octoling  _know_ that... Nothing really went on? Unless it was something that the idols would come up with, or a last-second turf trip... They all never really had plans. 

 

**_No, why?_ **

 

Mitsuo stuffed her phone into her pocket, closing her locker. It had been some time since the two of them really hung out outside of work... A twinge of guilt because of it curled in her stomach. She made her way off from the locker room, only to be stopped by a familiar, calloused hand. Octavio looked down to her. "Come to Grizz's office, will you?" 

 

"Oh, well, er. Sure." She looked over to Spikes, who was walking out from his respective room. Mitsuo took her attention away from him and headed off after the octarian. She peered into the room, then sat down, Grizz turning his eyes from his computer and handing her vest over to her. "Huh...?" 

 

"You left this when you applied." Mitsuo took the bright clothing up and rested it into her lap. "But that's not really what I'm here to talk to you about. You don't have anything fancy, do you?" 

 

"...Fancy?" 

 

"Like, formal wear." Grizz pushed his chair back, grabbing out a collection of gold. Her eyes were glued on it in knowing amazement at the sheer amount. "A girl like you should have something formal. Here, open your hands." The inkling opened her hands out, Grizz pouring the coins into them. "Go get yourself something nice. Don't expect anything as big as this for a while though." He sat up, crossing his arms. "You're still not even close to being a profreshional." 

 

"Why?" 

 

Grizz flinched, eyes locking with Octavio's for a second. "What do you mean, 'Why?'"

 

"This is... Kind of out of the blue, you know. That, and Christie being gone..." 

 

"Don't worry about it." Octavio patted her back. "Here, we can stop by somewhere on the way home." He helped her out of the chair, Mitsuo slowly pulling her arm away. "Have a good night, Grizz." 

 

Grizz simply nodded as Octavio brought Mitsuo out of the building, the girl frantically shoving the coins into her pockets. Her phone buzzed once more, but she ignored it as she tried to keep pace with the taller cephalopod. He finally slowed down once they reached a building, unmarked, but that displayed dresses. Mitsuo cringed some, looking up to Octavio. "A  _dress_ shop?" 

 

"What?" 

 

"I'm being serious, Octavio." Mitsuo detached from him, chest starting to pound. "What's going on?" 

 

Octavio stared down at her, visibly looking shocked. He looked away, covering his mouth and seething, before sighing. "Toni Kensa informed Grizz and I about how... Christie and you are having issues mutually..." He grumbled. "He believed that setting you two together would be better, seeing as it's impacting both of your work performances."

 

Mitsuo froze, then raised her voice. "You're setting us up together?!" She balled her fists. "That's so not right!" The inkling pointed up to the octarian, baring her fangs. "I appreciate your help but- But that's just... That's just not right! None of you know how a relationship should progress- Do you?!" Octavio stumbled over his words as he tried to reply to her. "The only experience you have is your stupid little cult following you had, Grizz doesn't have  _have_ a partner-" Octavio opened his mouth to retort, but was shut down once more. "And Toni- I don't know anything about him but you can't lie to me that that man seems like trouble! And you go out and try to put  _me_ into a dress to try to get me to work better! By cod!" Mitsuo pulled at her tentacles, shoving the door open. "Just get in here, stop looking like a guppy!" 

 

Octavio was at a loss of words as Mitsuo grumbled and made her way through the store. She perked up once she noticed a section of suits, rushing over and looking through them. She picked one out, looking to it. It was rather thin, though covered in a slightly  _oily_ satin material on the outside, tagged with a price and it's ability. Though it wasn't uncommon for formal ware to be enriched with material suited for Turf purposes, something of the suits  _caliber_  wouldn't be something that was meant for battle.

 

Nonetheless, Mitsuo brought herself to a mirror, looking at it over her torso. She grinned some as she looked over how every little curve and fold glistened some as she turned towards and away one of the artificial lights in the room. Octavio slipped over, taking up the tag and flinching. "That's almost  _100,000_ , Three." 

 

Starry eyes laid upon his tired ones, glistening with an almost rebellious determination. "I'm getting it." She pulled the gold from her pockets, walking over to the register. She laid the suit down, counting out the pieces as she placed them on the counter. Once she got done placing the gold and was left with a few pieces, she crossed her arms. "This one, ma'am."  

 

The cashier hesitated as she spoke and started to place the order through. When the price came up on the confirmation screen she presented it to Mitsuo, looking the young adult up and down. "Are... You sure you want to pay with physical?" 

 

"I counted out the money, I want this suit, ma'am." 

 

The cashier finished putting it through and bagged the suit up properly, handing it over. Mitsuo promptly left, leaving Octavio to follow suite. He attempted to rest his hand on her shoulder once more. "Mitsuo, we-" 

 

"We what?" She glared at him, stopping in her tracks. If they were in a more populated area of the city, surely a crowd would have formed around the two cephalopods- Seeing as Mitsuo was almost  _half_ Octavio's size, and she was successfully sizing him up. Her tentacles were stiff, chromophores over them and her body starting to shine a soft blue as the evening light surrounded the two. 

 

"We already had a night planned and-" 

 

Mitsuo smiled. "Cancel it." Her cheeks still were tinted blue from her outburst earlier. "I have a better idea." Mitsuo walked away from the elder, taking her phone out and reading over the message Christie sent her, leaving Octavio to stand alone on the sidewalk, bewildered by the sudden surge of confidence the agent obtained. He laughed some under his breath, dragging a hand through his tentacles as he looked over to the window display of the store, looking at himself in it. 

 

"You always were able to be so brash when you needed to, kiddo." He said, mostly to himself, seeing as Mitsuo was already far from him. "Glad 't see my girl goin' for someone like you." 

 

* * *

 

 

_mitsuo?_

 

_do you want to come over Friday?_

 

**_Not really, but can you come to the octarian rig then?_ **

 

 

Another message came through moments later. 

 

 

_you get there through the Plaza, right?_

 

**_Yes._ **

 

_i'll try to make it!_

 

**_Wear something nice, ok?_ **

 

_umm_

_Ok!_


	15. Ensconce

The next morning, Mitsuo was greeted by the familiar weight on her back and a coo, her turning around and hugging the octoling back. She set Christie down after a moment, smiling. "How are you?" Her eyes turned to the girls arms. They were uncovered, a rare sight to Mitsuo- especially for the time of year. Christie looked down as well, opening her mouth before Mitsuo spoke again. "You look pretty good today!" 

 

Christie felt her heart flutter and she pulled her locker open, grinning. "I'm doing well!" She started to change into her uniform for work, Cobalt sauntering over and looking over the two young adults. "Huh-" Cobalt pulled the two into a big hug, laughing. "Oh! Good morning!" 

 

"Good to see you for the first time in a while." Cobalt winked, nuzzling her before letting the two go. "We're doin' some clean-up today so don't worry about warming up. We're just collecting the leftover power eggs from the night shift." 

 

Mitsuo groaned, tossing her shorts into her locker before pulling her overalls on and gloves. Christie grabbed her hand once she finished getting ready, practically dragging the girl off to the docks. Mitsuo struggled some to keep up, detaching from her once the two reached the docks. The boat was different from the one they used when they were working a shift- No weapon case, just a collection of nets and boxes. That, along with large canisters of saltine water, labeled properly, with hoses. As she would have assumed, those were just for cleaning the eggs off. 

 

Christie climbed into the boat, waving off to Spikes who was running over while latching one of his overall loops. He jumped into the boat, Mitsuo stammering as she climbed in. "Hey, wait for me!" Cobalt followed in last, bringing herself to the bridge of the ship. Spikes took a seat, sighing happily. Mitsuo sat next to him, and Christie next to her. "You're not usually late." Mitsuo playfully sneered at him. 

 

"I had to bring my 'sis to school." 

 

"School's starting again?" Mitsuo blinked. 

 

"It's been in for a while." Spikes scratched at his chin, boat starting off from the dock. "She's usually good with bringing herself but she's been getting lazy since it's the last week." 

 

Christie peered over to the two, adding in her two cents. "You all end school in autumn?" The two inklings looked to her, confused. "Why?" 

 

"Well," Mitsuo pressed a finger to her chin. "I think I recall a teacher saying it's because of a lot of parents a long time ago complaining about their kids freezing?" 

 

"Oh! Yeah! I remember that! Because 'kiddos are mostly ink with really fragile skin before they're out of secondary school, they have a really bad habit of freezing up during the winter. It caused a lot of medical stuff for a while er... Like a few decades ago?" 

 

"That's really interesting!" Christie sat on her hands. "Marina was telling me about how we end in the spring because it lets us spend the summer training, and since so many people are in classes, they would do it in the winter since we all could cuddle around and do our work." 

 

"Octolings are a lot more group based, aren't they?" Spikes looked more-so to Mitsuo than Christie. 

 

"I don't ever recall seeing a lone octoling while I had er... Worked with them. Though... Avery would know more than me." 

 

"Avery?" Spikes hummed.

 

"Oh, my brother." Christie peeked back in once again. 

 

"Oh, I know him!" 

 

Mitsuo froze and jerked to look at her, ears turned up. "How do you know him?!" 

 

Christie stuck her tongue out. "I remember meeting you guys! And- He was over at Pearl's the other day." Mitsuo still looked confused. "He was there because he was concerned about Octavio." 

 

"That's weird... He was supposed to graduate-" Mitsuo got interrupted by the feeling of the ship stop abruptly. "Eek-" 

 

"We're here~!" Cobalt sang out and made her way over to the three, grabbing a container of salt water. "Christie, can you grab the other one? Spikes, Mitsuo, grab the ropes." The cephalopods nodded and went off to do their separate jobs, then jumped off to the island. Split into two halves by a short canal, the island seemed to be two at first with the tide so high. Spikes shook his ink off of himself once he landed, looking to the green covered dirt. He made an annoyed noise as he began to pick up some of the large eggs from the sludge. Cobalt followed after him as Mitsuo and Christie copied what they were doing. 

 

Christie would sprinkle some of the water into the net after every few eggs, scowling at the smell. "Eugh... I don't mess how  _rotten_ this all smells." 

 

"I think that the whole... Killing them part of it is to cause." Christie and her laughed, keeping up the small talk while they cleaned off their part of the initial island. Once they finished, Mitsuo tied her net up. "Hey, it'll be easier if we superjump over there." Mitsuo pointed back to the other island, Christie nodding before the two jumped on over. Mitsuo untied the net and the two continued what they had been doing. Mitsuo fidgeted with the net, looking down to the contents of it. Orange eggs, the size of soccer balls sat collected inside. Some had tints of yellow, and some were darker red. 

 

Thoughts started to collect in her mind as they grew silent with their work. What  _will_ she do with the octoling? She recalled what Christie was saying earlier, and her request for the rig. Her initial plan was simply to tell her about how they met at first at the location but... Seeing as she recalled that time, that plan didn't seem to be as good as she thought. She flinched some when Christie called her name out. "You alright?" 

 

"Ah, just thinking." 

 

"About what?" 

 

"Ah- It's a secret." 

 

Christie pouted, balling her hands. "What? Really?! Dude, what could be  _so_ important you can't tell me!" 

 

"I'm just thinking of..." Mitsuo hesitated. "Of what we're going to do Friday." 

 

" _Oh_." Christie lowered her hands. "Is it... Something for a surprise?" She pressed to her, hands moving back to the nozzle of the device. 

 

Mitsuo cracked a smile. "Yeah. I think... I think you'll be pretty surprised." She chuckled, leaning over and pinching her cheek before finally closed her net, Cobalt waving off to the two. "Oh, I think we're done." 

 

Christie and her jumped back to the other two cephalopods, then they jumped back to the ship. Mitsuo set her net down, and took a seat, taking her hat off. Christie sat next to her, and Spikes took his place once again. The three talked among themselves as they headed away from the island, a chorus of laughs growing. Spikes leaned onto Mitsuo, chuckling. "Glad to see you two bein' all friendly again. Felt so weird without it, y'know?" 

 

Mitsuo rubbed at her neck. "I kind of just... Had a revelation yesterday about it." She turned the hat over. "Realized that... I shouldn't let my feelings boil in me like that." Her eyes went over to Christie, and she smiled. "But..." Then back to Spikes. "I don't think they're quite ready to go back to simmer." 

 

"Simmer?" 

 

Mitsuo stood, heading over to one of the nets and took out an egg, one of an amber hue. She took a bite into it, Spikes peering to Christie, who just shrugged. "What even  _happened_?" He whispered to her. 

 

"J... Just a misunderstanding is what I understood."

 

Mitsuo finished the egg off and sat back down, being quiet until the ship returned to Grizzco. The younger three separated to the locker rooms, the feeling of piercing eyes bringing a shiver down Mitsuo's spine until she looked up to see another blue ring in the exit to the lockers. Polar waved some, Christie perking up and waving. "Hey Polar!" She rushed over, hugging the taller octoling. "What's up?" 

 

"It came in." 

 

" _What?!_ That was so fast!" Christie jumped as she spoke, excitement lacing her voice. "Is- Is Toni here to pick me up or...?" 

 

"Nah, I took his car." 

 

"Wait, what?" Mitsuo tuned in at the  _car_ thing, making her way over to the two. "What's going on?" 

 

"Oh, just a little surprise." Polar winked. "C'mon Christie." 

 

With that, Christie returned to her locker and closed it, then rushed off to Polar and left. Mitsuo stood there, baffled. There was no doubting that she heard Toni's name be uttered before she fully comprehended their conversation. What Polar had said also hung in her head, a bubble of anger bouncing around in her chest. Part of her wanted to rush off and tell the octoling off for taking Christie- But at the same time, she knew they had to have been gone already. Her anger was stopped when a water bottle was placed in her vision, being held by the indigo inkling. 

 

Shaking her head, Mitsuo took the bottle and sighed, looking at her reflection in a piece of metal. Her cheeks were flushed once again, and she grumbled, sipping at the water. "What's bothering you?" Spikes hummed. 

 

Mitsuo rubbed at the bridge of her nose and headed out, Spikes following. "Okay, don't tell her I know this, nor Grizz and Octavio that I'm telling you it. They're setting Christie and I together, and it's just  _pissing_ me off. I know that we both- We have feelings for each other, but you have to agree that it's messed up the way they're doing this! They even had a whole plan to have us be together next friday- at least I'm assuming its friday- and... Ugh!" Mitsuo stomped, finishing the water off. 

 

"That's messed up, man." Spikes frowned, shoving his hands in his pocket. But... Look on the bright side, you guys aren't really... Being bad anymore for yourself, right?" Mitsuo pressed her lips against the mouth of the bottle and hummed. "I can't even imagine how y'all feel." 

 

"I don't think Christie is as upset with it as I am..." 

 

"Why don't you guys just ignore their plans and make your own." 

 

"That's what I  _want_ to do. I already texted her saying to do something else on friday." 

 

"That's cool!" Spikes smiled. "I hope you guys have a good night." 

 

She sighed, then smiled. "I hope so too-"  Spikes yelped when someone ran into him, a familiar scent taking over Mitsuo's senses. She looked over to the boy who was stumbling back with a backpack, rubbing his head and repeating 'sorry' over and over. He stood a few inches shorter than the young adult, with freckles littering his skin and light blue tentacles. "Avery?!" Mitsuo squeaked, the other agent looking up, terrified. "What are you doing here?! Weren't you-" 

 

"Shhh-!" He covered her mouth, then paused, looking between the two. "...Did- Did I interrupt something?!" 

 

"Whuh-" 

 

"You told me that you go home with- Um- With your crush a lot-" 

 

Spikes looked down at him, then erupted in laughter, holding his stomach as he doubled over. Mitsuo's tentacles stiffened up and she yelled. "What?! No! He's- He's just a work friend-! You didn't answer my question!" 

 

"I was trying to go find Octavio!" 

 

"Why?" 

 

"Didn't you hear?" He started off again. "He escaped!" Mitsuo grabbed his wrist. "Mitsuo-?" 

 

"He's fine. I'll tell you everything later- Just, go home." She rested her hands on his shoulders. Avery looked flustered, Spikes soon finishing his laughing spree. "Please?" 

 

"Wait, Mitsuo. He's your brother, right? Why can't you ask him to help you out?" Mitsuo flinched. "Oh! Maybe we can make a group chat to get everything together." Mitsuo mumbled as Spikes offered his hand to Avery, who handed him his phone hesitantly. When he received the phone back, he stared at the contact that was added and scratched at his chin.

 

Mitsuo raised her voice. "I'd rather you two not be involved." 

 

"But why? We're not gonna try to pull what they're doin'." Spikes stuck his tongue out. "We can just help out with uh... Whatever your plan is!" 

 

"...What are you even doing?" Avery looked between them. 

 

"I-" Mitsuo frowned, accepting defeat. "I'm taking Christie to the old Rig to ask her out. I wanted to do this whole thing with a suit I bought and having my agent stuff on top before pulling it off to show the suit-" Spikes stared at her in awe, Avery frowning. Mitsuo, though, grew a smile as she spoke about it. "I'd be standing up on that one billboard she was on- You know it Avery, and I'd do this cool turn..." She demonstrated. "Then I'd jump down! You don't really know about that part- It was a thing that I did in the Metro when I fought her." 

 

"That sounds cool and all but... Wouldn't that mean we'd have to go back to the Plaza?" 

 

"Well... Er... Yeah." She scratched at her chin. "And... I know that Spikes has never gotten involved with the squidbeak so we'd have to show him around..." The more she thought of what she wanted to do... The more her heart chimed with excitement for it. Something about having these two be involved- Instead of their elders- made her excited. "Maybe you could help him around, Avery?"

 

"Are you sure...?" 


	16. Interlude

A frown came over the octolings face at first when she received the text stating Mitsuo couldn't make it on Friday, though a twinge of hope came through her when she replied with another plan. Christie stayed glued to her phone that evening and into the night. Exchanging texts between herself and the inkling, she felt an excited joy rush through her. 

 

Though the two didn't discuss what exactly Mitsuo's plans were, it didn't stop Christie from pondering whatever the inkling could be planning. 

 

And when she had seen her the following day at work, that excitement in anticipation for the following weekend amplified with every second they shared, even with Mitsuo being dodgy about her plans. She kept that hold on the device through her ride to the Kensa building, waiting anxiously for Mitsuo to continue their conversation- It was something about some cartoon that Pearl got Christie in, and thus, Mitsuo. 

 

When she didn't seem to get any messages through the entire car ride, she lost her smile. She turned the phone off and followed after Polar, quiet. 

 

Was she mad that she didn't go with them? 

 

Something in her chest ached at the thought that Mitsuo could have turned bitter towards her again. Polar looked back to her, frowning. "Hey." Her voice cut through the negative thoughts about the situation, inviting and calm. "What's up? You looked so happy when I picked you up." 

 

"I'm just... Worried." 

 

"About what, Chris?" 

 

"Mitsuo hasn't texted me back since the morning." 

 

Polar pursed her lips, flinching when they passed another octoling on the way up to the studio. She looked back, Christie not noticing her. The octoling who passed wore a dark gray sweater, tentacles short with clear cut scars around the ends. The octoling that passed the two looked back, eyes a dark pink close to Christie's. Polar stood still on the stairs, Christie continuing up. 

 

They looked to each other for a minute before Senior turned back around. Christie called Polar's name and Polar rushed after her, laughing. "I think that your mom was meeting with Toni." 

 

"My... Mom- Senior?" 

 

"Did you not even notice she passed us?" Christie shook her head. "Jeez..." Polar opened the door and the two octolings headed off to the Kensa's office. Ferox stood outside of it, arms crossed and head hung. He didn't bat an eye towards the two as they entered, Toni's desk covered in some papers and him pushing his cabinets closed. "Hello?" 

 

Toni turned to the two, smiling. "Ah, just in time." He locked the cabinet and slipped the key into his desk, then opened one of the wardrobes and took a bagged dress out, handing it to the smaller octoling. "I hope you don't mind, but someone had suggested after the dress had initially been made to have it be made out of a material suitable for turf..." 

 

Christie's eyes glimmered as she unraveled the dress. Better quality than the prototype, one of the sleeves was embellished with the symbol for Toni's clothes, along with an ability patch on the other side.  _Special Saver_. Instead of being entirely cyan though, it was a mix of pink and cyan, clearly just a cosmetic choice for her. Christie spun around with the dress in her hands, joy spreading through her body. Her tentacles curled up on themselves, and she turned to the mirror, looking at herself. 

 

"I  _love_ it!" 

 

* * *

 

Days working until the following Friday felt so grueling to the two of them, keeping small talk between themselves to a minimum besides one of the days of the weekend. It wasn't that common for anyone to come over to Mitsuo's home, so when she got a knock on the door and saw Christie standing behind it, she was thrown off. Christie stood in the hall, donning her gray sweatshirt and a pair of shorts and sneakers. She had a nervous grin on her face. "S- Sorry for coming over unannounced. I just-." Christie coughed. "I kind of... Wanted to come over." 

 

"Oh! That's fine!" Mitsuo chuckled, stepping out of the way so Christie could kick her shoes off and head inside. The two chatted the evening away, and when Christie finally noticed the time, she stood up. Mitsuo opened her mouth to say something as Christie got ready to leave. Mitsuo gathered her courage and balled her fists up. "You can sleep here if you want!" 

 

Christie jumped and turned to her. "Ah- Really?" 

 

"Y-Yeah!" Mitsuo nodded. "My... My bed's big enough for the two of us. Maybe even more, to be honest." She scratched at her neck. "I don't... I don't mind." 

 

She certainly did mind though, the feeling of tension that came from it when the two laid to rest. Christie laid opposite to her, with her back turned to the inkling. Mitsuo took a deep breath and scooted closer to her, hugging onto her. When the two woke up, they got ready for work and Christie had ended up leaving her sweatshirt at the apartment- Something Mitsuo didn't notice for a few days. 

* * *

 

 

After work, Spikes and Mitsuo would divert from Christie and head towards the subways, Avery meeting up with them at the entrance. They'd flash their cards to enter one of the carts and make their way off to the Plaza. Even if it wasn't the hub for turf as it was before, there was still a strong competitive presence for the elder ranks of players. It was a strange sight for Mitsuo, haven been a blooming adult when she left the Plaza, to see older players- Around Cobalts age- be the primary inhabitant of the area. 

 

Avery was always quick to head to the hidden kettle, something he'd soon confess to Mitsuo the cause of: Him  _leaving_ his graduation ceremony to look for Octavio and in slight rebellion and jealousy of her. 

 

The first time Spikes entered the Valley, he was amazed. The area was more bustling than what Avery originally remembered- But  _Mitsuo_ knew the state the area was in, seeing as it was where she and Craig spent most of their time for the research trip. New structures started to line the areas, with clear paths between each of the floating islands.

 

Spikes became accustomed to the paths they had to take to and fro the entrance kettle, smiling and waving off to the different octarians and octolings who took up residence of the seemingly abandoned underground. 

 

Every morning after, Christie and Cobalt would look at Spikes and Mitsuo weirdly, seeing as they could recognize the smells of octarians on them but they never pressed into it. Christie, due to the assumption of it being involved with Friday, and Cobalt seeing as she would spot them on the occasion on the way to her practice with her team. 

 

Since the rig was deemed unusable from the octarians since it was so old and in a kettle that barely received power, there wasn't nearly as much activity in it than around it. The first few afternoons were spent on trying to help Spikes remember the route, then they would sneak cleaning items from Grizzco with them and bring them down to the rig. The three of them worked hard on cleaning it up, some octarians and octolings taking notice and surprising them with food that was left during the time they were gone. 

 

Mitsuo worked on the sign that sat adjacent to the kettle's opening, fixing up the metal and colors on it. She climbed to the top, breathing in deep. She looked off to the middle of the rig, rehearsing what she would do the moment she would hear the kettle go off. After a few times, Spikes returned from getting a heat gun, causing Mitsuo to cackle and jump down while the two laughed at how dramatic she was. 

 

* * *

 

 

The Wednesday beforehand, a small box was sitting in the middle of the rig. A note sat on top of it, red pen and near chicken-scratch and in a weird combination of octarian and inkling. Avery picked the box up, looking over to the other two inklings. " _This_ is what this thing was for?" He handed the note over to Mitsuo, opening the box. Inside were three meals of fish, rice, and cut up squid lemon and greens. 

 

_mom told me that y'all are cleaning this up so I decided to head out and leave y'all some shit. it looks good. you're planning on fightin' her, ain't you?_

_you weren't conscious when y'all fought last, were you?_

_she's a fuckin boss at fighting even if she doesnt look like it_

_if y'all are gonna fight let avery know i wanna watch_

_anyways enjoy its like some fish or something octavio said y'all eat that stuff up_

_~ ferox_

* * *

 

Thursday night, Toni knocked on the door to the home Pearl and Marina owned with a bag full of produce and cleaning materials. Christie was sitting on the couch at the time, a notebook in her lap as she went over some octarian Marina was in the middle of teaching her. She waved to Toni, who gave her a sweet smile as he pushed his way inside. Pearl stopped him before he could get into the kitchen, pointing a finger up at him. "What are you doing?" 

 

"You two were going to be heading out on your next tour in the morning, right? I figured I'd stock some things up for Christie for the weekend..." 

 

As Toni tried to pass the thin girl, she coughed, grabbing a hold of his wrist. "You and I both know I'm not a poor lady." She hissed. "So go on and fuck off with that stuff, alright? I ain't a kid anymore, and Christie isn't a kid either. She makes more damn money than any of your models and you know it." 

 

Toni looked shocked, and shook his head. "Just take is as a thank you gift, hm? I really didn't mean to-" Marina placed a hand on his shoulder. 

 

"Toni, Christie isn't going to be here for the weekend. She already told us that she's going off with Mitsuo for it." Toni's eyes widened and he diverted his attention from the taller octo, to Christie. "I appreciate free food though." Marina took the bag from his hand and turned it over to Pearl, who brought it to the counter. "I'm sorry to inform you about it." 

 

Toni remained quiet afterwards, simply turning heel and heading out. He closed the door behind himself, taking a deep breath and holding onto his chest.  _That damn girl_... He headed to his car and drove off, knuckles going white as he thought of Pearl and Christie. Halfway away, he released his pressure on the plastic, sighing.  _There's no reason to be mad..._


	17. Illation

The morning was still. No one to wake Mitsuo up, no breakfast being given to her. Usually Octavio's steps would wake her up before he even came over, but they seemed absent that morning. Mitsuo's eyes fluttered open and she sat up in bed, rubbing at them. She  _could_ hear commotion outside, but she recognized Marie and Nelly's voices, not Callie nor Octavio's. They were muffled enough that she wouldn't understand them, but she had simply figured the two girls were heading off to work themselves. A knock came to her door before the commotion died down though, and Mitsuo got up, opening the door. Sitting in front was a container of some leftovers and a little note from Marie. Mitsuo took it inside and closed her door, climbing back into bed as she ate and got herself ready for the day. 

 

She checked her phone, cringing at seeing the temperature for the day.  _Getting cold already, huh..._ She set it down and went to grab a sweatshirt, pausing when she noticed a familiar gray one among the few blue ones that she carried over from her parents. The inkling grabbed the oversized sweatshirt and pulled it on, looking at herself in the mirror. She let out a sigh and smiled some to herself, anticipation bubbling through her form. She grabbed her phone and headed out and off to the Grizzco building. The smell of the coming cold and frost had started to override the musk through the block up to the building. It was nice... At least, to not get such a strong whiff of it in the morning. 

 

The doors were already open, seeing as Mitsuo was late by a few minutes to them opening. She made her way into the locker room and waved to Christie. The octoling jumped on over, giving Mitsuo the usual welcoming hug. "Good morning!" Christie purred, nuzzling into her shoulder. "It's so cold!" She pouted, holding her torso after detaching from her. 

 

"Oh trust me, it's going to get colder." Mitsuo laughed, pulling the sweatshirt off and folding it up. She tossed her shorts off as well and pulled her overalls and shirt on. "Do you think Grizz will give us like... Winter stuff?" 

 

"I dunno!" Christie hummed, leaning against her locker. "I know that Junior sent Ferox and I some winter clothes!" She smiled. "Spikes gave me some stuff he said that Avery had found that belonged to Senior 'n stuff, that looked like it was used around this time for fightin'!" 

 

"Huh...?  _Avery_ gave him that stuff?" Christie nodded. Mitsuo scratched at her chin. "So that's what he's been doin'..." 

 

"What?" 

 

"Ah, nothing." Mitsuo waved a hand. "I just know that Avery's been heading down there, but I never figured that outside of... Getting tonight ready, that he was exploring around more." 

 

"Wait, they helped for tonight?" Christie bent over, tentacles curling in excitement. "Oooh... I'm so excited, Mitsy!" She jumped up and brought herself over to the door out to the dock. "It's been a while since we've really... Hung out." Christie chuckled. "Oh... And, you can keep that if you want!" She went ahead out, Mitsuo flushing and her tentacles stiffened. When Mitsuo made a sound of protest, Christie laughed and closed the door some, shuffling on her feet. Her laughs stopped abruptly and Mitsuo closed her locker, heading out. Grizz stood in front of the docks, looking down to Christie, then Mitsuo when she came to the area. 

 

The stared them down before heading past them, patting Christie and Mitsuo on the back. He spoke softly despite his tired stature. "You two are off today. Return your uniforms to your lockers. Now." He was stern while he spoke. Mitsuo and Christie looked to each other as they followed his order, pulling the clothes they had worn to work back on. They peered into Grizz's office once they were done, the elder and Toni Kensa talking to each other. Grizz looked over to them, crossing his arms. "You may come in." 

 

"Did we... Do something wrong?" Mitsuo spoke up, shuffling inside. 

 

"Nothing that we can entirely be mad at you two for." Grizz sighed. "You two are going to the Rig tonight, correct?" They nodded. Grizz laughed softly, Toni looking away from them with his fist clenched around the fabric of his pants. "Have a good evening you two. You're dismissed." Toni's head turned down when the taller cephalopod said that, and the two young adults left awkwardly. 

 

Christie and Mitsuo stayed quiet as they walked away from the building, before Christie spoke up. "Where are we going?" 

 

"I... Hm." Mitsuo rubbed at her neck. "I don't really know." 

 

"...Can I be honest with you?" 

 

"Always, Christie." 

 

The octoling stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath. She grabbed onto Mitsuo's wrist to stop her, gently tugging on it as to motion her to come closer. She stared to her eyes- A sort-of heterochomia haven been starting to scar over one of her eyes. It wasn't something Christie noticed at first- Since she didn't exactly take  _notice_ of the color of her eyes, but... She couldn't help but to do so in the moment. Those drums came back as she looked over the inklings features, small speckles all over her face of chromophores and freckles. She could see the  _anxiety_ that shined in the inklings eyes as the two were silent. She could tell that Mitsuo was evaluating her like she was. 

 

She swallowed her pride and took her other wrist, then hand, and closed her eyes, resting her lips against the inklings. Mitsuo twitched, tentacles wavering some before she closed her eyes as well. Her anxiety seemed to fade away as they just stood there, enjoying the moment of cold around themselves. Mitsuo squeezed her hand some, then pulled back, a deep blue flush taking over her face. She giggled, nuzzling her and giggling more, hubris completely taking over the hole that anxiety left in her. Part of her wanted to just stay there, to take her chin and stare at those  _rose_ -colored eyes for the rest of the day, look over every speck of color that were in those irises and to look over the caves that started to form in her pupils. 

 

But she didn't.

 

Christie looked to her, confused some. "Why... Why are you laughing...?" 

 

"Because that was... That was nice." Mitsuo purred, nuzzling against her cheek. Her response warmed Christie's heart, her tentacles curling and unfurling with her heartbeat. "I'll see you tonight, okay?" Mitsuo pressed a kiss to her nose before pulling her hands away from the others'. 

 

"Wait-" Christie reached towards her. "What time should I go?" 

 

"Around 6. And... Be sure you wear what Toni made for you, okay? And bring your ink tank." 

 

"My tank...? Why-?" 

 

"You'll see!" Mitsuo chimed and headed off in the direction of her apartment. She buried her hands into the octoling's sweatshirt, breathing in deep. As she approached the building, she saw some items being pulled out and towards a van. Standing outside of it was Octavio, who simply took a glance towards her before climbing into the drivers side of the van and taking off. Part of Mitsuo wanted to tell him to stop to ask him what was going on but... Another part of her wanted to leave him, especially after what had happened the week prior. There still was an ounce of fear in her gut that he was angry at her for what she spoke up about.

 

The inkling brought herself up to her floor, Marie and Nelly standing outside of the idol's apartment and talking to themselves. Nelly perked up when she saw Mitsuo, waving vigorously and calling her name out. " _Mitsuo!_ Mitsuo, Mitsuo!" Nelly smiled, rushing over and grabbing onto her shoulders. Mitsuo stumbled back some with what little weight the younger Agent had being pressed against her. "Guess what! Guess what!" 

 

"Er--" Mitsuo stammered. "What?" 

 

"I'm moving in with Marie!" Nelly stepped back. "Octavio 'n Callie were goin' their separate ways 'n Marie said she had more time on her lease so she asked me if I wanted to take their place!" Nelly pressed her knuckles to her chin. "Junior's comin' too! But she's too busy over 'n Octo Valley today. Said somethin' abt a secret thing." 

 

"Oh...? Well, I'll be gone around 5 to head over there." Mitsuo chuckled, nuzzling into the sweatshirt. "I'm glad to hear that y'all are all comin' together now though! I know it's been hard for you to find a place." 

 

"Yeah..." Nelly hummed. "But, that's besides the point! We were goin' to go get some brunch, if you wanna come!" 

 

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about relaxing until later." 

 

"That's okay! I can bring you back something!" Nelly headed over to Marie, closing their door. "Have a good day!" Marie flinched when Nelly grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the hall, Marie looking back to Mitsuo and stammering as she tried to repeat what the purple inkling said. Mitsuo shook her head and laughed, opening her door and staring at a box that was sat outside her mud room. It wasn't too large, but it was wrapped with her name on it. She closed her door and opened the gift up. 

 

Inside was a familiar set of armor. She picked the pieces up, one by one. Steel-gray goggles, a leather plate, some belts, and a pair of tie-up boots. Under it was a tag, all in octoling, stating  **Procer Octet** , with the number of 10080 under it. She felt a bubble of anxiety swell in her as she looked to the armor and around inside the box. Under it all was a photograph of two octolings, both with tight curls from their scalp and long tentacles. The right one had vitiligo, while the right one was covered in dark red speckles. 

   

It was Christie and Ferox. 

 

That anxiety turned to warmth as she stared at the picture.  _Now_ she remembered. It couldn't have been taken too long before they met at first, seeing as the two were clearly grown into their humanoid shape, and their armor was that of inside the box and what they had originally. But the name... The name was what threw Mitsuo off.  _They had names_? She knew that Ferox- Ferox had been given his name by Whitney unless... Unless Whitney knew somehow? 

 

Mitsuo shook the thought from her head. All that mattered now is that she had a name she enjoyed. Something she picked out. There was no reason to dwell on the past when it's been replaced. And so, some doubt coursed through her with her plan for the evening. She was going to challenge her at the Rig. She was going to give her the battle- A  _real_ battle- that she owed the octoling. 

 

The couch creaked some as Mitsuo sat on it, inspecting the leather carapace more. It had dark pink stains in it, clearly from whatever friendly fire or training she went through. It looked generally untouched though. She didn't fight her in it, so there was no real use for her to use it. Mitsuo began to think about her own agent uniform. The thin vest of reflective material was treated heavily for combat, so it barely had any scratches. Her fingers pressed into the leather as she set it down. 

 

She spent the rest of her time before the evening relaxing out on her couch, nuzzling into the octoling's sweatshirt and watching random dramas, really only getting up to get the food Nelly brought back from her brunch date with Marie. As the clock ticked closer to the time, her anxiety grew larger and larger. She was worried that she wasn't going to get her point across with her. That she wouldn't show up, or that she would get hurt. She knew others helped her with getting the stage ready for the two but she still worried that something bad would happen. 

* * *

 

As for Christie... Her day had been spent helping Off The Hook get ready for their concert. It was just a solo one between Pearl and Marina, but Callie was joining in with them for the weekend to help set things up. Christie was relatively quiet, something that would have normally worried the idols but Pearl and Marina knew about what was going to happen later in the day. After their suitcases were ready Marina pulled Christie aside, resting her hands on her shoulders. 

 

"I'm sure everything will be fine." The younger octoling cooed. "I mean, not a lot could go wrong. Afterall, Pearl asked  _me_ out during one of her shows and in front of a huge crowd. It was... Embarrassing." Marina giggled, tentacles curling. "But... I want to let you know something." Christie looked up to her. "Have fun. If... You want to go with her after tonight, it won't break our hearts." 

 

Christie's eyes widened. "W- What?" She didn't even  _think_ about moving out- It threw her off at first. But as she thought more about it... She did enjoy the few times the two of them were alone. "I... I don't know if I'm quite ready for that." She laughed, rubbing at her neck. "I don't even know if she's... She's going to ask me that." Marina chuckled. "What's up with you all laughing?!" 

 

"It's just cute, Christie." Marina purred. "Seeing someone getting so flustered. It reminds me of when I was in your position. Trust me... Anything that could make you flustered from her, Pearl most likely did worse tenfold." 

 

The aforementioned squid called Marina's name out. " _Aye_ , Marmar! We're gonna hit the road soon." 

 

"Coming, Pearlie~!" Marina hummed, looking to Christie one last time. "Have a good night. My best wishes for the both of you." Marina kissed her forehead and nuzzled her before heading off with Pearl. Christie waved, a bittersweet smile coming across her features. When the door closed, she frowned, gripping her arms. 

 

It didn't feel nice, being alone. 

 

She knew they would return after the weekend- they always did- but she still didn't like being alone. Christie looked to the clock- 4. Two hours until she was expected to go to the rig. 

 

She made herself some food to pass the time until she had to get ready. The octoling pushed her way into her room and changed into the dress, a nihilistic silence in her body as she stared at herself. There wasn't a feeling of accomplishment, or pride, or even a sadness. She didn't feel... Anything. She turned around, watching the satin shine against the lamp on her desk and she scratched at her chin. There was a hint of excitement-  _drums_ coursing through her veins but no anticipation.

 

She felt fear. 

 

Christie felt fear about the coming hour. What they were going to do. How Mitsuo would feel when she saw her. Was Mitsuo dressed up? Why did she have to be dressed up? Are they going to dance? In that instant, the octoling recalled every romantic movie she had seen, seeing as they were Marina's favorites. Every note and tone of voice the main characters had. She felt confusion, for there weren't many cases of a relationship like theirs- going beyond being an inkling and an octoling, but instead, two girls. Her thoughts raced her mind as she thought about where their place would be. 

 

A hero- of course that was Mitsuo, saving the one who was trapped- her. But was she trapped? For sure, Mitsuo had saved her from her demise but something about putting herself out of that hero role as well felt wrong. She didn't like that idea. Craig-  _Cuttlefish_ , the idols, even  _Ferox_ insisted that she was a hero. Could there be more than one hero...? 

 

Her fingers dug into the dress. 

 

She recalled a dream she had- with Mitsuo and her. Mitsuo with a deep orange-rose color to contrast with the color she- Christie- had. The same deep blue color that Mitsuo's tentacles would naturally be. The same color of her eyes-  _eye_ after their fight in the NILS statue. That dream of the two fighting, how good she felt after beating her. Defeating the hero that was inside of herself- the one she saw  _as Mitsuo_. 

 

Choking on her breath, she grabbed her inktank. She attached it to herself and pulled the straps on. She knew that that dream was going to be fulfilled- why wouldn't it be? Her intent though. She swore to herself that her intent wasn't going to be malicious. 

 

She couldn't bare herself to think about it being for harm. 

 

She was going to be  _her_ hero. 

 

Almost a five years ago, Christie can recall. She can remember the day clearly. It was that rig. She stood on the sign, a grin across her face and the promise of a fight between the two, in return for leaving her alone. 

 

Christie opened the door and headed to the subway. 

 

They haven't been able to properly fulfill that promise.  _Fairly_ fulfill it. No sneak attacks, no power imbalances. Just a fight like they would have had that night. Rose eyes looked to the sky as reds and purples filled them, speckles of stars shining through. She climbed into the subway cart and grabbed onto a pole, closing her eyes. Surely that was what Mitsuo wanted. 

 

And now that Christie knew it, she wanted that too. 

 

Christie stepped out of the cart and made her way to the Plaza kettle, ignoring the sound of Spikes calling her name. " _Christie, wait!_ " He yelled out, pausing at the kettle and catching his breath. "Dammit! I was... Supposed to help her there." He sighed and jumped into the kettle. He looked to Christie when he pulled himself out of the kettle, zipping up his coat and rushing off towards her. "Christie!" When he reached her, he grabbed her arm, breathing hard. " _Fuck_ , you're fast." 

 

"Spikes?" She turned to him. "How- What?" 

 

"I'm supposed to be bringing you up there." Spikes finally caught his breath. On his back was a weapon case- an E-Liter. He handed the case to her. "C'mon." He went on ahead as Christie pulled the case to her back besides the ink tank and the two rode the inkrails up to the island with the rig kettle on it. "Go ahead and take it out." 

 

Christie did so, inspecting it some. It looked almost untouched, though she could tell that one of her kits were in it by the id embroidered into it. "Woah... Did you guys clean it up?" She smiled to Spikes. 

 

"Avery did!" 

 

"That's so cool!" Christie hugged him. "Thank you. Do I go ahead-?" He nodded. 

 

Christie didn't know what she was going to expect when she would pull herself out of the steam and ink. She didn't know where Mitsuo would be, or if there was going to be anyone else there. So when she pulled herself from the spawn pad in the rig, she was surprised with the condition of it. It looked like it had been  _just_ built, the metal and floors shiny, and lights hanging around it and from the panels in the dome. The dome projected the same light of the outside world, dark purples and reds streaking across the sky with bright yellows, whites, and reds twinkling among the colors. It was a welcoming artificial light, something that almost screamed a sense of home and comfort. 

 

What caught her attention though, was that there were some saucers around, them carrying Ferox and Whitney, along with Junior and Avery around. Spikes pulled himself through the ink of one of them, and pulled Avery into his arms and lap. They all sat focused on the rig, as if they were there to watch a match. 

 

And indeed they were. 

 

The sound of music begun to flutter through the air and a figure super-jumped to the billboard on the rig. Mitsuo pulled herself from the ink, looking away from Christie. She wore her agent uniform- but with a pair of dress pants and shoes. Christie could see a bulge in the back of it, and she laughed some at the sight before Mitsuo turned to her, hero shot in her hands. 

 

Mitsuo pointed down at her, a smile crossing her lips. "You wanted us to match again?" Pride shown through her voice as she undid the button of her sweater and started to zip her vest and sweater off, revealing the suit underneath it. As the stage grew darker, the spots on her- both of the cephalopods in fact- skin and tentacles started to glow. Mitsuo tossed the uniform, it fluttering off into the water bellow. "Then let's fight!" Mitsuo super jumped to her, body glowing bright as she set off her splashdown. Christie yelped, shooting Mitsuo out of it before heading off and inking. 

 

Mitsuo pulled herself from her spawnpoint, shaking ink off herself. "...I didn't expect that." She rubbed at her cheek, looking to Christie's half of the stage. It already was growing pink despite her weapon. Mitsuo collected herself as she rushed off to collect time, the two avoiding each other as they inked their individual sides. They finally met in the back of the stage though, a stand-still between Mitsuo and Christie, who had the laser of her weapon pointed right at Mitsuo's chest. Taking a sharp breath, Mitsuo ran away deeper into the stage, Christie flinching and losing her charge. 

 

Christie painted her way around until she cornered Mitsuo, the two of them staring at each other when Christie got close enough to place the muzzle of the charger against Mitsuo's chest. Christie let her breath out, slowly releasing her finger from the trigger, the charge diminishing. As the pink light faded from the butt of her weapon, Christie dropped it, and took Mitsuo's jaw into her hands. Christie kissed her, clawed fingers digging into the material of her suit. her tentacles stood still while the two laid there, tentacles exchanging colors. While there was a twinge of familiarity of the situation, Christie didn't mind. The only thing she thought of in that moment was the blooming feeling that wrapped around her stomach, arms, then neck. The  _thrill_ of it all, and how despite putting her arms down in the fight, she knew Mitsuo still held her weapon. 

 

About how she knew Mitsuo dropped it into the ink besides herself and brought her hands to her arms, her  _bare_ arms. Her mind went cloudy as the two of them broke their kiss and just held each other on the ground. How the music slowly came to an end, signifying the end of that battle. Mitsuo's eyes fluttered open after a few minutes, looking over to the ink that was starting to flake and disappear. Mixtures of blues and pinks turning purple and crystallizing. Christie opened her eyes soon after as well, shifting her weight as to simply being on the inkling instead of pinning her. Christie wrapped her arms around Mitsuo, face burying into her collar and neck. She listened to her breathing- Nothing out of the ordinary. But it felt special to her. 

 

Those movies never showed her how it felt to be there. Only what was on the surface. Under it sat a calm, yet easily volatile kind of acceptance. Instead of a strong, fast rhythm against her chest, it was slow. As she focused on that, she noticed how that rhythm soon matched with Mitsuo's.

 

She sat up and Mitsuo did as well, the two looking to each other. Christie smiled, Mitsuo returning it. They stood soon after, looking towards the other cephalopods who had descended. All of them rushed over and hugged the two of them, laughter errupting from the group. 

 

* * *

 

 _ **fam·i·ly**_  
ˈfam(ə)lē  
noun  
**~~?????????????????????????????????????~~**

~~~~_family is who cares for you. it doesnt matter how, but they all love each other._  
_family is acceptance and love._

* * *

 

 

As everyone started to leave to go home, Mitsuo was stopped by a familiar figure. Octavio stood looming over her, arms out. "Treat her well, okay?" His voice almost  _cracked_. "She's  _your_ princess after all, 'kiddo." 

 

A cobalt pupil and white pupil laid eyes upon the DJ, before Mitsuo smiled and hugged him. "I'll do my best." She detached from him, stepping onto the exit kettle. "Bye, dad." That final word brought tears to Octavio's eyes as Mitsuo faded into ink. 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Are you really Human?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17068046) by [yails](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yails/pseuds/yails)




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